Home in Prunedale deemed total loss by North Monterey County fire

PRUNEDALE, Calif. (KION) - A structure fire broke out at a home in Prunedale off Manzanita Circle.

According to North County Fire, the fire broke out around 8:15 a.m. on Manzanita Circle for a single-story home.

There, a woman is left grieving not only the loss of her home and possessions, but also the loss of a loyal companion, her dog, who never made it out.

Fire crews are deeming this home a total loss.

Lenore, who has been living in this home for 13 years, says she does not understand how this fire could have started.

Just after 8 am on Monday, Lenore, who lives in this home, was warming up her car in the driveway when she noticed flames pouring out of her home.

"I don't know what happened, but I lived there for 13 years for my whole life in there. And I said, it's childhood," said Bishop

Nearby neighbors who saw the black smoke a few houses down say the flames moved fast.

"My daughter and I were backing up out of our driveway to go to school, and I looked over and saw a big plume of black smoke, so we drove over there real quick," said Stockton.

Fire crews say they got to the home in less than 10 minutes. Despite their efforts, the home was engulfed within minutes.

"We had a total of three North County units on scene with 12 personnel, along with one medic unit from AMR on arrival was probably approximately 50% involved," said Rick Parker, Division Chief with the North Monterey County Fire Department.

Lenore says there was nothing she did out of the ordinary before leaving her home.

She says priceless family heirlooms, like her dad's horse saddle, childhood photos, and her son's belongings from the military, are all gone.

"I have memories of my parents, they've both been gone since I was young. But everything, I mean from pictures from my childhood, my twin sister's kid's childhood, you know, everything's in that living room. The most important is gone," said Bishop.

Fire crews were able to recover her safe. Two dogs inside the home did not survive.

Friends and neighbors of Lenore rushed to the scene once they got word of the incident to provide support and comfort.

Lenore tells me the Red Cross has contacted her and will be relying on their support.

Fire crews were unable to tell me where in the home the fire started, as it is still under investigation.