MORENO VALLEY: Home destroyed, family displaced, after residential blaze

MORENO VALLEY – A house was “severely damaged” and left uninhabitable after a major blaze burned much of the home to the ground Sunday, April 9, according to fire officials. The fire happened on the 12000 block of Zinnia Street, which is south of Ironwood Avenue and west of Heacock Street, in Moreno Valley.

Moreno Valley Fire and Police personnel and other emergency first responders were dispatched to the residence about 5:35 p.m., after Riverside County emergency dispatchers received numerous calls from citizens and neighbors reporting the fire.

Twenty-two firefighters from five engine companies and one truck company responded to the residential blaze, according to Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Public Information Officer Tawny Cabral. They were assisted by a breathing support unit.

“The first arriving engine company reported heavy fire from the front of a two-story residence,” Cabral explained in an incident report after the fire.

Firefighters began an immediate and aggressive attack on the fire in an effort to save as much burning residence as could be saved.

While firefighters battled the huge blaze deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Moreno Valley Police Station assisted with crowd and traffic control, as people from all over the neighborhood flocked to the street where the fire was raging. Streets around the fire soon became clogged with vehicles filled with people trying to get a closer look at the blaze.

Fire officials at the scene summoned Southern California Edison and Southern California Gas Company personnel to the residence to shut off all utilities to the destroyed home.

Firefighters eventually managed to knock down the blaze and bring the fire under control, but not until the house was severely damaged and left uninhabitable.

Firefighters remained at the scene for several hours for extensive overhaul and mop-up operations.

James Hansen, who lives one block from the fire and was sleeping after his overnight, graveyard shift, said he first became aware of the blaze when he woke to the smell of thick smoke filling his own residence and he heard sirens approaching the area.

“The first thing I noticed as I was waking up was the smoke,” Hansen said. “The smoke was so thick I thought for sure it was my own house that was on fire.”

Hanson said he immediately jumped out of bed to check his house. Once he realized it was not his own home burning, Hansen explained, “All I could think was to throw on some clothes and go to see where the fire was, to see if I could help at all.”

“I was utterly shocked when I saw the size of the blaze,” Hansen said. “All I could do was hope the family made it out safely and pray that there were no serious injuries.”

Cabral later estimated the home sustained $100,000 in damages; however, fire personnel managed to save $190,000 in property and personal belongings.

American Red Cross members were requested to the location about 8:30 p.m., to assist the residents who were displaced due to extensive fire damage to the home, which was left uninhabitable.

No information was immediately available regarding the family of the home or if they were inside the residence when it caught fire.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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Trevor Montgomery runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News and Anza Valley Outlook and also writes for Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg and breaking his back in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.