Fire displaces 11 living in Santa Rosa duplex

A fire ripped through half of a Santa Rosa duplex Monday afternoon and caused smoke damage to the adjacent home. No one was injured but 11 people were displaced.

The Santa Rosa Fire Department was dispatched to the South Avenue blaze, between Dutton and West avenues, at 5:37 p.m. The first firefighters at the scene found a garage and the attached home consumed by flames and a large column of black smoke spewing from the burning home, said Scott Westrope, a Santa Rosa deputy fire chief. The six residents, including two children, had evacuated before firefighters arrived. Firefighters from four engines and a ladder truck extinguished the blaze in 15 minutes.

“It was essentially their entire residence; it was a very small living space,” Westrope said of the fire. “All interior belongings were a complete loss.”

Besides the smoke damage to the adjoining home, firefighters tore down some of the walls checking for additional flames. Four adults and one child were displaced from the home.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at 707-521-5203 or nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @nashellytweets.