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| Fire scorches Patterson homes |
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| Written by Jonathan Partridge | Patterson Irrigator | |
| Friday, 13 June 2008 | |
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Fire ruins walls of two neighboring homes Fire damaged two houses in the Patterson Gardens development Wednesday, ruining their sidewalls, causing smoke damage inside and destroying a fence that separated the homes.  Fire ruins walls of two neighboring homes. Photo by Elias Funez/Patterson Irrigator Joey called 9-1-1 and knocked on the door of one of the houses that had caught fire. “It was crazy,” he said. Firefighters spent nearly 3½ hours at the scene to ensure the fire remained under control. Though Patterson firefighters were the first responders, several nearby units from as far away as Turlock helped extinguish the fire. Alex MacDonald, who was home when Joey knocked on the door, said all but one person in the house was asleep at the time, and they all got out. He said he opened the door to the garage and found flames inside. MacDonald added that the fire department arrived about five minutes after the initial call. “It seemed they did a good job,” he said. “They got it out really quick.” The fire consumed most of the fence between 1536 and 1540 Horizon Lane, leaving behind only a few blackened posts. It also darkened the walls and damaged the outside of each houses on either side of the fence, while causing some smoke damage inside. Portions of the honeycomb-like chicken wire within the walls lay exposed after the fire was extinguished, largely as a result of firefighters chipping away at the walls to put out the fire. However, the damage inside the house was minimal, Patterson fire Chief Bill Kinnear said. “Everyone did an excellent job,” Kinnear said. “There was very little damage, considering the heat and the wind.” He said the cost of the damage was unknown thus far. Joey said it looked as if the fire started at 1540 Horizon Lane, which has been vacant for a long time.  ALL THAT’S LEFT: The charred remnants of a fence sit between two fire-damaged houses on Horizon Lane in the Patterson Gardens subdivision. Photo by Elias Funez/Patterson Irrigator David Branum, senior building inspector for the city of Patterson, said his girlfriend was at home on Horizon Lane, two houses away from the fire, when she heard a loud explosion and saw black smoke that smelled like rubber. “She said it scared her to death,” Branum said. Joey had been on his way to a neighbor’s house to look after the neighbor’s dogs when he noticed smoke. He called his mother, Laurie Lopes, who directed her son to call 9-1-1. “I’m really proud of him,” Laurie Lopes said. “I think he acted quick on his feet. He really acted with a level head.” Joey’s father, Logan Lopes, said he had contacted the local fire department a couple of months earlier about overgrown weeds near the vacant house. However, Kinnear said the grass was only two inches tall at the time of the fire and appeared to have been clipped by either the homeowner or the fire department. Firefighters also kept busy with a few other emergencies Wednesday afternoon. Those included a grass fire at Interstate 5 and Howard Road, reported at 3:16 p.m., and another grass fire south of Sperry Avenue off Rogers Road at 3:49 p.m. The latter fire initially was reported as a structure fire, but it was across the street from the service stations on Rogers Road. High winds and hot, dry weather likely contributed to the fire-prone conditions, Kinnear said. “(We were) a little busier than we care to be,” he said. To reach Jonathan Partridge at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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