Glendale house fire damages power lines, leaves residents in the dark during heatwave
Approximately 100 Glendale residents were left without power Thursday afternoon after a house fire caused by an overheated freezer damaged nearby power lines, authorities said.
The Glendale Fire Department responded to reports of a fire in the 900 block of Cleveland Road sometime around 3 p.m.
The flames started in the home’s backyard before spreading to the home’s interior, said Anita Shandi, a spokeswoman with the department.
The fire also advanced to a nearby row of trees before damaging power lines overhead, resulting in an outage that left around 100 residents without power, Shandi said.
She said the home was unoccupied when the fire first broke out. However, its residents were present as firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze.
The fire was reported knocked down around 3:40 p.m. and Glendale Water & Power crews were brought in to repair the damaged power lines and restore power.
Shandi said the cause of the fire was deemed an accident after a freezer placed outside caught fire. She said the weeklong heatwave in the Southland contributed to the appliance overheating and catching fire.
According to the National Weather Service, the area reached a high of 108 degrees Thursday.
A firefighter suffered extreme heat exposure due to a combination of the fire and the heat wave, Shandi said.
It’s estimated that the fire caused $350,000 in damage.
Twitter: @Andy_Truc
UPDATES:
Sept. 1, 2017; 2:10 p.m.: This article was updated with information about the cause of the fire provided by the Glendale Fire Department.
This article was originally published at 4:35 p.m. on Aug. 31, 2017.
