West Petaluma arson fire burns trailer, household belongings

Investigators believe someone set fire Monday to a couple’s 40-foot trailer parked along a west Petaluma road.|

Someone set fire early Monday to a couple’s 40-foot trailer parked along a west Petaluma road, destroying their household and personal belongings, according to a Rancho Adobe fire official.

Firefighters were called to the fire on Magnolia Avenue near Thompson Lane at 5:11 a.m.

Rancho Adobe fire Battalion Chief Herb Wandel said firefighters determined the blaze appeared to be an arson. He declined to release details of how the fire was set. There were no injuries.

The old trailer had been parked along Magnolia Avenue for about a month, with permission from the property owner. It was due to be moved in the next few days, Wandel said.

It belonged to people who’d been living at the nearby Sampson family property, but last year when Sonoma County officials closed the property to inhabitants following a fire, the trailer’s owners had packed their goods inside and moved it from the compound to Magnolia Avenue, Wandel said.

The loss was estimated at $15,000.

-Randi Rossmann

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