2-alarm blaze south of Santa Rosa damages 2 houses, displaces 9

Two homes in the Moorland neighborhood just south of Santa Rosa were burned and nine people displaced after a Thursday fire that ignited in a backyard spread to one house then the other, authorities said.

Nobody was injured in the blaze in the 3200 block of Newmark Drive, which was reported at 2:56 p.m. Thursday and battled by more than 20 firefighters, said Sonoma County Fire District spokesperson Karen Hancock.

Sonoma County Fire District firefighters from the agency’s Bellevue station arrived on the scene by 3 p.m. and upgraded the call to a 2-alarm fire because flames had reached the second home, said Hancock. Fifteen fire engines and trucks ultimately responded, she said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation but it was determined that it started in the backyard of one home, spread to that house, caught the wooden fence separating the two properties and then attacked the second home, Hancock said.

The fire was reported out at 4:44 p.m., Hancock said. Together, the two properties sustained an estimated $270,000 in damage.

There were three adults in one home and four adults and two children in the other. All were receiving assistance Thursday evening from the Red Cross, Hancock said.

Three ducks, a dog and a rabbit were in one of the houses, Hancock said. All were reported safe.

Crews from the Santa Rosa Fire Department, Rancho Adobe Fire Department and Rohnert Park Fire Services also responded to the fire, which sent smoke billowing across Highway 101.

You can reach Staff Writer Andrew Graham at 707-526-8667 or andrew.graham@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @AndrewGraham88