Fire destroys Corralitos home

Watsonville firefighter Eduardo Caro (right) delivers a stream of water into a house on Crow Avenue in Corralitos that was fully engulfed in flames Wednesday afternoon. (Photo by Tarmo Hannula/Register-Pajaronian)

CORRALITOS — Fire demolished a home Wednesday afternoon on a rural road outside of Corralitos. Witnesses called 911 about 2:30 p.m. to report a loud explosion and flames engulfing a single-story wood home.

When firefighters arrived on the 100 block of Crow Avenue they reported a home “fully involved” with flames with a towering column of black smoke wafting high into the sky.

Since the fire toppled power lines leading down to the home firefighters were cramped in their efforts to quell the flames with live lines dangling across Crow Avenue.

Firefighters at the scene said initial reports were that no one was inside the home and the half-dozen dogs in the back yard, housed in wire kennels, were safe.

“I heard an explosion and then this giant whooshing sound, like flames rushing into the sky,” said neighbor Bryant Watson who said he has lived in the area his entire life. “Flames were shooting out of the house. It was real intense and came on quick. I grabbed my garden hose and started wetting the fence here.”

Firefighters attacked the burning structure from the front and the rear after they bashed they way through a wood fence.

Swarms of neighbors stood about in small groups watching the action unravel.

One neighbor said a man, A.J. Santos, and a woman, Gloria, lived at the home.

“I heard the woman drive off like five minutes before all this happened,” the neighbor said.

The cause of the blaze has not been determined. No other home sustained damage.

The power of the fire was so intense that the home ultimately collapsed on itself with huge sections of the roof folding in on top of the charred rubble.



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