Water Heater Likely Cause of Blaze
By Doug Mattson - Thursday, October 12, 2000
Firefighters battle a blaze Thursday as it consumes a mobile home on Rough and Ready Highway west of Grass Valley. (Photo by John Hart)
A malfunctioning water heater was possibly to blame for a Wednesday morning fire that destroyed a mobile home on Rough and Ready Highway.
The fire destroyed the home of Dwayne Housdon at the Sunset Mobile Home Park west of Grass Valley, causing $25,000 in structural damage and destroying $10,000 in contents, said Nevada County Consolidated Fire Chief Tim Fike.
A passing motorist reported the fire at 6:50 a.m., and the Wolf Mountain Lookout reported seeing it a short time later.
"So we knew it had a big head start on us," Fike said.
The fire was contained five minutes after firefighters arrived, and the last of five engines cleared the scene at about 9 a.m.
No injuries were reported, and Housdon, who works in Foresthill, wasn't home at the time, Fike said. The fire isn't considered suspicious, and it possibly started near the water heater after Housdon left for work.
Red Cross arranged emergency shelter for Housdon.
Nevada County Consolidated, the Grass Valley Fire Department and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection sent engines to the scene.
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