Near miss for Santa Rosa home threatened by yard fire

Owners of a Santa Rosa craftsman-style residence in the Junior College neighborhood just missed fire breaching their home when a massive mound of wood in the yard caught fire from combustible, oily rags left with the pile.

Flames and smoke generated a call from a neighbor of the Monroe Street home and Santa Rosa firefighters found about a four-yard pile of torn-up flooring and trim from the house on fire in the back yard. In the pile were rags apparently used for staining, said Santa Rosa fire Battalion Chief Mark Basque.

The fire torched a tree, damaged about 30 feet of a neighbor’s fence, cracked windows and blistered an outer wall of the two-story home, from the foundation to the roof, Basque said.

A few more minutes of burning without intervention and flames would have moved inside the home, he said. Damage was estimated at $25,000.

“Any time you’re using oil-based paints and stains you have to dispose of rags in a metal container and they need to be wet,” Basque said. “Don’t put them in a pile, they will ignite.”

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter@rossmannreport.