A house on Buckeye Street in Mount Hermon was gutted by fire Tuesday evening, Oct. 27, in a blaze that started at about 7:35 p.m.
The fire, which began on an outdoor workbench, scorched the inside and outside as neighbors watched helplessly while the fire licked upwards, engulfing most of the building.
“We were in (our) house and we heard a big bang, like a gun going off,” neighbor Tina Schmidt said.
She and her husband, Tom, ran outside and saw their neighbors’ house on fire.
“It was huge flames,” she said. “The whole house was engulfed.”
The home is that of longtime residents Rich Price and his family. The family is staying in a cabin provided by Mount Hermon Conference Center.
Neighbors said one of the Price boys, Will, was home at the time. He noticed the fire when he went outside, and he escaped without injury with the family dog.
The fire started spontaneously on a workbench outside the house, Felton fire Chief Ron Rickabaugh said. Because of the damage, investigators haven’t been able to figure out the fire’s cause.
A Toyota truck and a vintage Volkswagen Beetle were also caught in the blaze, and the family’s nearby motor home was singed.
Crews from the Felton Fire Protection District — at the peak of the fire, four engines and a water tender — were on scene till 5 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28, to dampen the blaze, which did not spread beyond the Prices’ property.
“The potential (to spread) was there,” Rickabaugh said. “Fortunately, we were able to contain it.”
At a glance
• Donations to help the Price family can be sent to Santa Cruz Fellowship, c/o Les Hill CPA, 125 Mission St., Ste. 2, Santa Cruz 95060.
