HEMET: Mother, children escape uninjured after fire erupts at home
HEMET — Firefighters made quick work of knocking down a residential fire that was possibly started by children this afternoon. The fire was reported at a home on the corner of E. Menlo Avenue and Glenn Way in Hemet.
Firefighters quickly knocked down a residential blaze in Hemet Sunday afternoon. Timothy Franseze/Public Safety Incidents photo
City of Hemet Fire and Police Departments along with Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire and other emergency first responders were dispatched to the home about 12:35 p.m., after receiving multiple reports of smoke and flames seen billowing out of the residence.
More than a dozen firefighters responded to the home after receiving word of the blaze. When they arrived, officials found a single story home engulfed in flames.
Police officials quickly cordoned off the area to keep curious onlookers and others away from the fire while firefighters battled the blaze.
After they arrived, firefighters discovered a mother and three to four children had already made it out of the residence without injury.
Firefighters reportedly spent about fifteen minutes knocking down the blaze, which seriously damaged the home. Witnesses at the scene stated the fire was primarily contained to the bedroom, and it was not immediately known if the family was displaced by the fire or if the home was still habitable.
According to a Battalion Chief at the scene, firefighters determined the fire had possibly begun in the home’s master bedroom where several children had been playing. It was not yet known if the children had started the fire, which is still under investigation.
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Timothy Franseze/Public Safety Incidents video
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Trevor Montgomery, who recently moved from Riverside County to Shasta County, runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook as well as 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, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries 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.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 27 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and has 13 children and 14 grandchildren.