Trailers destroyed, dog killed in Santa Rosa fire

Several travel trailers were destroyed and a dog killed in a Wednesday morning fire near a warehouse on Sebastopol Road, Santa Rosa fire officials said.

The blaze, behind a warehouse occupied by Don’s Appliances at 1 Sebastopol Road near Boyd Street, sent up a huge plume of smoke, prompting multiple 911 calls around 7:45 a.m., Battalion Chief Mark Basque said in a press release.

Firefighters arrived about four minutes later to find several travel trailers in flames, adjacent to the warehouse.

The fire had started to reach into the warehouse when firefighters arrived, creating severely smoky conditions inside, Basque said. They managed to stop the spread into the building and got the flames under control within 20 minutes. By then, three trailers were destroyed and there was extensive damage to the outside wall and roof of the 50- by 60-foot warehouse.

People appeared to be living in some of the trailers but none were there at the time of the fire, Basque said. However, a dog was in one trailer and died in the blaze. It appeared that nobody was permanently displaced by the fire, he said.

Basque said the fire department called in Santa Rosa city code enforcement inspectors to “make sure the use of the property is appropriate for how it’s categorized.”

A fire investigator was working to determine the cause of the fire, though it appeared to be accidental, Basque said.

He estimated damage to be about $50,000.

Staff Writer Jamie Hansen blogs about education at extracredit.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach her at 521-5205 or jamie.hansen@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jamiehansen.