OCEANSIDE–An explosion and smoke forced a husband and wife to flee their Oceanside home Thursday afternoon, the Oceanside Fire Department said.
An Oceanside homeowner called 911 earlier Thursday afternoon to report their house was on fire, but was unable to complete the call due to the amount of heat and smoke building up in their residence.
The dispatchers were able to hear the yelling that the house was on fire and used the automatic location identification services associated with 911 to determine the address.
Oceanside firefighters found heavy smoke coming from the front door and attic vents of the single story, single family residence.
Backed up by other fire crews from Oceanside and Vista, they made an aggressive interior attack on a well involved rear bedroom. After knocking down the fire in the bedroom, crews started opening up the attic, where they found additional heavy fire in areas being used for storage.
Fire crews were able to bring the fire under control. However, fire crews spent nearly three hours checking for hot spots, salvaging belongings and securing the structure.
A husband and wife were present in the residence when the fire started. They heard what sounded like an explosion in the rear bedroom and the house started filling with smoke. When the conditions got too extreme, they hung up the phone and fled the structure.
An Oceanside Fire Department investigator responded to the scene in order to determine the cause and origin of the fire. The fire appears to be accidental in nature, but is still under investigation, according to an Oceanside Fire Department investigator.
The husband was treated at the scene for minor burns. The wife was uninjured. There were no injuries to any of the fire personnel, despite the warm and humid conditions.
The City of Oceanside Building department determined the house was uninhabitable due to the amount of damage and the couple went to stay with friends nearby.
Damage has been estimated at $200,000 with $150,000 associated with the structure and $50,000 with the contents.
