Crime & Safety

Fire Causes 'Extensive' Damage to Menifee Home; Resident Taken to Hospital

The first arriving engine company reported that the single-family home on Pacific Channel Road was fully involved with fire, according to CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department.

Last updated at 12:06 a.m. Nov. 23; originally published at 9:06 p.m. Nov. 22

A fire caused extensive damage to a Menifee home Friday night and sent a woman to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.

The blaze was reported at 7:58 p.m. at a single-story home in the 29900 block of Pacific Channel Road in Menifee, according to Melody Hendrickson, spokeswoman for CAL FIRE/Riverside County Firefighters.

The first arriving engine company reported that the single-family home was fully involved with fire, Hendrickson wrote.

Prior to that, Murrieta resident Dennis Davis and his son were leaving the neighborhood that backs up to Newport Road west of Interstate 215 when they spotted flames coming from the home. 

"We were just driving down the road when my son said 'look dad, there's a fire!'," Davis said.

Davis and his son pulled over and ran to the home, each one grabbing a garden hose from neighboring houses and attempting to keep the flames from spreading. 

"I told him to spray the roof and I ran inside," Davis said. "I just kept yelling 'hey, is there anybody in here?' but no one ever answered," he said.

Davis said the fire was quickly spreading over the ceiling inside and pieces were beginning to fall. "I tried to spray the ceiling, but it just went up so fast. It was so hot in there, I couldn't even breathe," he added.

Davis said he came back outside and realized that the fire had spread into the attic of the home because fire was coming from the vents on the roof. He and his son heard sirens and moved back as the first fire engines arrived.

Twenty firefighters quickly got to work and, according to Hendrickson, were able to contain the fire by 8:36 p.m.

At 9:10 p.m., an adult female resident of the home was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, her injuries described as minor.

"There is extensive fire damage to the structure," Hendrickson wrote. "Firefighters will be committed to the scene for several hours for salvage and overhaul."

Southern California Edison and Southern California Gas Company were also on scene.

As of publication time, there was no word on what may have sparked the fire.

A Patch reporter on scene described the interior of the home as "gutted."

—Joe Fanaselle contributed to this report.


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