Fire displaces families from pair of Healdsburg homes

A fire that broke out Friday evening in a Healdsburg residential neighborhood caused significant damage to two homes and displaced both families, but no injuries were reported.

The fire appears to have started on or near the outside wall of one of the homes in the 100 block of Robinson Court east of Healdsburg Avenue, quickly igniting a fence between the two buildings, with flames then spreading to the other home, officials said. The fire was first reported at 6:31 p.m., drawing a large response from local agencies.

Healdsburg Fire was first on the scene at 6:33 p.m. and found flames shooting about 20 feet above the homes, fanned by strong winds, Division Chief Linda Collister said. Firefighters, including teams from more than a half-dozen agencies, had the blaze contained within about 20 minutes of their arrival, she said.

Paul Smith, who lives at the end of Robinson Court, said he was barbecuing in his back yard when he smelled a different kind of smoke. He looked over his fence and saw the fledgling fire.

“I told my family to get in the back of our house and just raced over,” he said.

He alerted the residents of each home and tried frantically to douse the flames, though he had trouble finding water, he said. Ultimately, he hauled buckets of water from one home’s swimming pool. But it wasn’t enough to stop the quick-spreading blaze.

One home, where the fire appears to have started, sustained major damage to the attic and the west side of the house. In the other home, flames damaged the garage and two parked vehicles, including a Mercedes sedan and an SUV. Collister estimated the damage at each home to be around $200,000.

The cause of the fire wasn’t immediately clear, though fire officials said that the porch of one of the homes had undergone some stain work Friday and there were what appeared to be cans of stain and rags on the side of the home where the fire started. Officials were investigating at the scene Friday evening as firefighters put out the remaining embers.

Collister urged residents to be careful in such hot, dry, “tinderbox” conditions, adding that many summer fires are caused by stain-soaked rags being left out and untended barbecues.

“In the heat, they spontaneously combust,” she said of the rags. “You want to make sure you lay them out, or put them in a closed can with water so they don’t get oxygen.”

The two families, who did not want to be interviewed, found friends or neighbors to stay with for the night.

In addition to Healdsburg firefighters, other assisting agencies included Cal Fire, Windsor, Geyserville, Cloverdale, Santa Rosa, Rincon Valley, Marin County Fire and the Dry Creek Rancheria.

You can reach Staff Writer Jamie Hansen at 521-5205 or jamie.hansen@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @JamieHansen.