Neighbors reporting smoke was key in preventing more damage when a large outbuilding caught fire on Centerville on Tuesday night, fire officials said.
East Fork firefighters responded to a report of smoke coming from the structure at around 8 p.m.
“Quick reporting of visible smoke by neighbors nearby made the difference in this fire,” said Battalion Chief Troy Valenzuela. “Minutes later, this incident could have been much worse.”
No one was inside the building that took crews almost two hours to completely extinguish. No one was injured as a result of the fire.
“On arrival, crews found a large outbuilding on the property with charged smoke coming from the building,” Valenzuela said. “Firefighters were able to force entry through some of the doors in the structure to encounter an active fire with high heat and smoke conditions. The fire was located and knocked down.”
Valenzuela said that the cause of the fire appears to be electrical.
This is the fourth structure fire in less than three weeks involving either an outbuilding or garage, beginning with a workshop on Gordon Avenue that succumbed to fire on March 16.
