Fire Damages Home in Mid-Town Ventura

A fire that had smoldered for hours exploded into flames early Tuesday, gutting much of a stucco house and spreading smoke across a six-block area of mid-town Ventura.

When firefighters arrived at 504 S. Coronado St. just after 1 a.m., they found the three-bedroom house engulfed in flames and thick smoke.

Battalion Chief Wayne Belitski said the fire had burned through interior walls and spread to the attic. Windows shattering from the heat let in air that fueled the flames.

The first firefighters to enter the house were forced to retreat twice because of flare-ups, Belitski said.

“One of the engine companies had a flashover,” he said. “That’s when it becomes so hot inside that the fire rolls just below the ceiling and tries to get behind you.”

After extinguishing the blaze, firefighters remained at the scene until 4 a.m. to secure the house and douse embers.

The fire was sparked by a faulty furnace in the living room floor, investigators said.

Property damage was estimated at $125,000, and contents at $35,000, Belitski said.

Tara Bartole, who rented the house from her mother, had left the residence at 6 p.m. to drive to Orange County. Her four cats escaped unharmed through a small opening in the back door.

Bartole’s mother, Barbara, said her grandfather, Soren Thygesen, helped build the house in 1927 but never owned it and her parents purchased it in 1969.

Bartole said she plans to rebuild the house. The living room, dining room, kitchen and a bathroom were destroyed, she said, but the bedrooms and exterior walls are intact.

“It isn’t a total loss,” she said.