Fire damages North Villa home Sunday

Investigators with the Porterville Fire Department have yet to determine the cause of a fire that heavily damaged a home in the 400 block of North Villa Street Sunday.

The fire broke out around 3 p.m. Sunday. Porterville Fire Capt. Rick Land said tenants were at home when the fire started.

“They were watching TV and noticed it went out and when they walked out through the bedroom area they smelled and saw smoke coming from the garage area,” Land said Monday.

When they opened the door leading from the house to the garage, residents saw fire, exited the home and called 9-1-1, Land said.

Land said there were at least two occupants living in the home.

Firefighters responded to the fire minutes after the initial call was made. Land said the first arriving units encountered a single-family, single-story house with heavy smoke and fire coming from the garage area and about half of the building, including the attic, in flames.

Six units responded to the incident, including five units with the Porterville Fire Department with 23 personnel as well as one Tulare County Fire engine and one CalFire engine, with 12 personnel between the two agencies.

Land said that due to the heavy involvement of the fire, they were forced to call back for additional city staff to address other calls that were coming in and to help with mop up.

The fire reportedly caused $10,000 in damage to the house and $5,000 in damage to contents.

Firefighters were on scene until about 1 a.m. Monday.

Contact Denise Madrid at 784-5000, Ext. 1047. Follow her on Twitter @DeniseMadrid_.