Blaze Tears Through IE Home, Latest in String of Fires

Flames were shooting out of every window and door of the property when crews arrived

Firefighters battled a blaze that tore through a home in San Bernardino early Wednesday, the latest in a string of fires to hit a small area in the city over the span of 24 hours.

Flames were shooting out of windows and a door when crews arrived at the house in the 1000 block of N. Stoddard Avenue at about 12:26 a.m, a San Bernardino City Fire Department (SBCFD) spokesman said. The bulk of the flames were extinguished within an hour.

Several hours after the blaze erupted, firefighters were digging out hot spots and neutralizing any remaining heat. The fire has not been labeled suspicious, though arson investigators were probing the cause of it. 

An SBCFD spokesman said it was just the latest in a string of seven fires to hit a 10-square block area, with the first one reported at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday. The fires happened at different times of day, with some in the early morning and a couple in the afternoon. Six of the seven were deemed suspicious by fire officials.

The locations are listed below:

  • 4th and E streets at 4:43 a.m., involving two trash cans
  • Court and D streets at 5:24 a.m., involving a trash can
  • 7th and H streets at 5:34 a.m., involving a small grass fire
  • D Street at 6:16 p.m., involving a palm tree
  • 6th Street at 6:20 p.m., involving a trash can
  • H Street at 8:07 p.m., involving a small grass fire
  • 1000 block of North Stoddard Street at 12:26 a.m., involving a structure

The home was unoccupied, and no injuries were reported. Firefighters had to work defensively to protect nearby structures from also catching fire.

Some neighbors weren't sad to see the home go and said it filled with "inapporpriate behavior."

"A lot of ladies of the night came here with there customers, people come here to use drugs," one man said. 

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