Planada family displaced after house fire

A Planada family was displaced after its home caught fire Thursday morning.

The Merced County Fire Department was dispatched to the home in the 9000 block of Brodrick Avenue at 7:10 a.m.

When firefighters arrived, a family of five made it out unharmed as about half of the home went up in flames, said Battalion Chief Mark Pimentel.

Two rooms of the 1,200 square-foot home were fully involved in fire and heavily damaged. The other rooms sustained major smoke damage, Pimentel said. The damage was estimated to be from $50,000 to $60,000.

Though the cause of the fire is under investigation, firefighters said the blaze appeared the start in one of the front rooms.

The Red Cross responded to aid the family, which included four children, since the fire left the home inhabitable.

The house is about a half-block away from Planada Elementary School and traffic was rerouted during the morning commute hours, the California Highway Patrol’s incident website showed.

In total, five engines, a water tender, battalion chief and nine firefighters responded.

This story was originally published September 29, 2016 at 5:20 PM with the headline "Planada family displaced after house fire."