Just before 6 a.m. on Friday, someone in the duplex on Sutter Mill Way spotted a fire outside one of the bedrooms. Within an hour, fire crews were able to put it out without any injuries, but not before it displaced two families
Now they're just trying to make sense of what happened, neighbor Angela Bader told NBC 7.
“I was asleep, so I didn't know about anything until about 8, when I saw the fire trucks out here,” Bader said. “They were using the hoses to get into the top of the house there… That poor family. I wonder what happened.”
Poway Fire chief Brian Mitchell told NBC 7 on Friday afternoon that the fire had been started at an exterior electrical outlet.
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Bader said the electrical in the units is old in some cases.
“We have to be very careful, especially because the wiring in the house is kind of finicky every now and then,” Bader said. “I mean, even when I open up my oven, the lights will flicker in the oven.”
Mitchell said fire risk surges in the winter.
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“There's a lot of things that are plugged into electrical outlets, we have Christmas trees that are combustible,” Mitchell said. “So I want to make sure that people are safe at home and just be aware of their surroundings.”
With this being at least the second neighborhood fire in the last five years, Bader is paying attention.
“The other fire was probably just a block down,” Bader remembered. “Their fire was more aggressive. It took out a majority of their back yard.”
Mitchell said the process for the displaced families begins with the Red Cross helping out and working with insurance companies in order to repair damage and reconcile any losses.
