Firefighters Battle Two Redlands Fires

Redlands firefighters battled two blazes in the city last week. No one was injured in either incident. Shortly after 10 p.m. on Aug. 6, firefighters responded to a single-family residence on the 800 block of Merced Street which had caught fire. The fire was contained mainly to the garage, a written release states. According to the release, the fire was reported after a resident entered the garage and discovered heavy smoke. She then alerted her family. They were able to escape the fire, along with their two dogs. Two cats are unaccounted for, the release states. Firefighters extinguished the flames in about 30 minutes. The garage, including two vehicles, were destroyed as a result of the incident, along with teaching and school supplies that one resident, a school teacher, had stored in the garage in preparation for the first day of school next week, according to the release. Camping stoves that had exploded in the garage were found several houses away from the fire. The release states that the house sustained some smoke damage after flames reached the attic. Total damage was estimated at $100,000 to the property and $80,000 to the contents of the garage. The presence of a self-closing secure door between the house and the garage likely prevented the spread of the fire into the living quarters, according to firefighters. Firefighters also responded to a second fire last week, reported shortly after 12:30 p.m. on Aug. 8, at a single-family residence in the 1500 block of Smiley Heights Drive. Redlands firefighters, along with fire crews from Loma Linda and San Bernardino, responded to the blaze. A total of seven engines, a medic squad, two truck companies, three chief officers and a Fire Department chaplain, 32 altogether, responded to the blaze, according to a written release. Redlands police officers assisted with traffic control. The incident commander on scene ordered an operational retreat and defensive tactics approximately 20 minutes into battling the blaze, the release states, as heat from the fire became too intense and the roof began to collapse. Firefighters continued to battle the blaze from all sides of the home and at 1:20 p.m. the fire was deemed “under control,” according to the release. Crews remained on scene for more than three hours to clean up. Both fires are still under investigation, according to the release.