Owners, Animals Escape Blaze
By Pete Skiba - Saturday, September 16, 2000
Nevada County and California Department of Forestry firefighters move a burned door from a garage on Cedar Court that caught fire Friday. (Photo by Eileen Joyce)
A Banner Mountain couple escaped without injury from their home as a fire engulfed their attached garage Friday morning.
Jeff and Kit Hattem grabbed their cat and two dogs and ran from 12192 Cedar Court, off Valley View Road, as firefighters arrived, Jeff Hattem said.
The garage was a ball of flames when firefighters arrived, said Tim Fike, chief of Nevada County Consolidated Fire Protection District. It is believed the fire began in some equipment in the garage, Fike said.
The fire was contained by 8:45 a.m., according to a dispatch log, and was extinguished 15 minutes later, said Fike.
The home's front entrance was scorched, but otherwise undamaged. The garage, a 1995 Suburban, a 1993 Toyota Camry and a 1985 Yamaha motorcycle were destroyed, Hattem said.
The damage was estimated at $50,000, according to a dispatch report.
A California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection employee in the fire tower at Wolf Mountain saw the smoke and reported the blaze, Fike said.
Hattem said he was unable to report the fire because he had turned off his phone after a telemarketer called him at 6 a.m.
Hattem said his neighbors were sheltering his animals Friday while the fire scene was cleared.
The Forty-Niner Fire Protection District and CDF also responded to the incident.
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