Attic fire at rural Sonoma County home displaces three

Fire destroyed the attic and roof of a rural Bennett Valley home before dawn Saturday, displacing three residents, officials said.

Authorities were examining whether the fire started in a chimney, although the cause is still under investigation, Bennett Valley Fire Battalion Chief Shepley Schroth-Cary said.

The sound of the power shutting off and a computer restarting woke up one of the residents shortly before 4:30 a.m. at the single-story home on a rolling vineyard property southeast of Santa Rosa.

“He smelled smoke and saw charring around the chimney,” Schroth-Cary said. “He got the pets and the other people out of the house.”

Flames were shooting out of the attic when the first fire engine arrived. Crews from Bennett Valley, Rancho Adobe, Rincon Valley and Rohnert Park helped contain the fire to the attic and limit damage to the contents of the house, the battalion chief said. The house was uninhabitable, he said.