Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Fire Destroys Home's Garage; Couple Escapes Unscathed

By Rozanna M. Martinez
Journal Staff Writer
      A Rio Rancho couple who had just returned from a shopping trip when they discovered their garage ablaze escaped serious injury Tuesday.
    But their home will need extensive repairs before they can live there again.
    Rio Rancho Fire Rescue crews responded to the single-story home on Nickel Drive in the Vista Hills neighborhood about 4:30 p.m. The garage, which is partially attached to the home through a common attic and roof structure, was fully engulfed, according to Rio Rancho Fire Rescue battalion chief Paul Bearce.
    There is no interior connection between the house and garage, but heat and smoke traveled into part of the home. Bearce said the areas affected were the bedrooms.
    Crews ventilated that area and created a space between the garage and the home to put water in that area to prevent the fire from spreading any further, Bearce said.
    The fire took less than 15 minutes to contain, Bearce said, and crews were in the mop-up stages about an hour after arriving. The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Fire investigators were at the scene Tuesday evening.
    The homeowners, a husband and wife, were able to get out of the home safely with their dog, Bearce said. He said the man was treated by medical personnel for smoke inhalation.
    The couple told investigators they had been out shopping and had just pulled their car into the garage, according to Bearce. The couple said they had taken items from the car into the house and smelled smoke.
    When they went back into the garage, they found it on fire and tried to put it out with a fire extinguisher, Bearce said. They did not know how the fire started.
    The home is uninhabitable, according to Bearce. Rio Rancho Fire Rescue contacted the Red Cross to help provide the couple with shelter.
    There was extensive heat and smoke damage to the attic space and some to the interior of the house, Bearce said. The garage was completely destroyed and part of it collapsed.
    Gas and electricity had to be shut down to the home, Bearce said. The electrical box in the garage, which included wires inside, were melted. The home will likely need to have extensive work done and require a structural engineer to assess the damage, Bearce said.
   

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