Candle to blame for morning fire near Freestone

Fire officials blamed an unattended candle burning in a bedroom for a small fire that burned part of a Freestone-area Bodega Highway home Thursday morning.

Fire crews quickly doused the flames, confining the blaze to the upstairs bedroom and its contents, Gold Ridge Fire Batallion Chief Darrin DeCarli said.

One adult resident, Karen McGlennon, was home with three children but on her way out the door when a smoke detector sounded and the fire was discovered shortly before 10:30 a.m., DeCarli said.

A teen-age daughter had lit the candle about an hour earlier, then forgotten about it, allowing it to catch some nearby materials on fire, DeCarli said.

It was the second area fire caused by an unattended candle in a week.

Friday, an early morning fire on Guerneville Road in Santa Rosa caused $30,000 damage, after a woman left a candle burning in a front room she had left.

There were no injuries.