Fire official: Cause of Stoke ranch blaze likely to stay unknown

The destruction from a fire that ripped through a well-known Sonoma County ranch Friday night is too significant to determine a cause, Windsor fire officials have determined.

“We can’t rule out an electrical problem, but there was just too much damage to determine the point of origin,” said Windsor Fire Captain Dean Crothers. “It’s a mystery, and it’ll probably stay that way.”

The blaze ignited around 9 p.m. Friday in Fred Stoke’s auto shop on his landmark ranch at 5525 Old Redwood Highway, north of Santa Rosa.

The fire destroyed vintage cars and pickups valued at more than $1 million, according to Stoke. Crothers estimated the total damage at $1.4 million.

Firefighters saved two adjoining structures. No one was inside the shop when it burned.

Firefighters went through 2,000 gallons of water battling the blaze, but crews ran out for about a minute before pulling water from a nearby fire hydrant.

“Our people put 1,000 feet of hose on the ground to pull water from that hydrant, and even then, we didn’t get a lot of water,” Crothers said. “We were lucky enough to save the two buildings that were attached by nothing more than a simple wall.”

- Angela Hart