Fire in empty home spreads to neighbor, displaces family

A Merced family was put out of their home early Friday morning after a fire next door spread to their house, Merced County fire officials reported.

The fire began right before 6 a.m. in the 2000 block of Beachwood Drive, said Glenda Leonard, a Merced County fire battalion chief.

The one home, which was unoccupied, was a complete loss.

“The house was fully involved,” Leonard said. “There was no way of being able to successfully put it out. All our resources were dedicated to the house next door.”

The neighbor’s home, where a couple and their niece lived, received damage estimated at $100,000. The occupants arranged to stay with family who live on the same street after firefighters assessed the damage.

No injuries were reported. Leonard said neighbors reported that homeless people had been seen staying in the unoccupied house.

Beachwood Drive was closed to traffic for about four hours while fire crews worked to put out the fire.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

Three Merced County fire engines, a water tender and battalion chief responded to the blaze along with an Atwater city ladder truck for a total of 11 firefighters.

This is the third residential fire this week in Merced. On Wednesday, firefighters battled an apartment fire on Edwards Avenue near Yosemite Parkway that displaced nearly 50 residents. A home near R Street also was destroyed after a fire spread from a nearby field.

This story was originally published August 26, 2016 at 5:02 PM with the headline "Fire in empty home spreads to neighbor, displaces family."