Fire ravages 100-year-old home

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

A two-alarm fire on Sunday night scorched the bedroom and attic of a Riviera home that is close to 100 years old, fire officials said.
Firefighters responded with five engines to the home at 1704 Paterna Rd. just after 9 p.m., getting the flames under control in about an hour, said Joe Poire, acting fire marshal for Santa Barbara City Fire Department.

“The fire itself was pretty much confined to one room and a portion of the attic,” Poire said, adding that other parts of the house sustained water, smoke and heat damage. “The occupants discovered the fire when it was relatively small and they attempted to fight it for a little bit.”
Mike Larralde, who lives at the home with his mother, told the Daily Sound he put a wastebasket near a power strip in his bedroom on the second floor late Sunday afternoon. Later that evening, he smelled smoke and returned to his room, where he said the plastic trash can had turned into a smoldering, melted mass.
“I ran to the bathroom and got some water and threw it on the trash can, and it just exploded and blew out the windows,” Larralde said.
Larralde said he believes an electrical short started the fire, which caused an estimated $75,000 in damage to the home and $10,000 worth of damage to personal belongings. Poire said fire investigators are close to officially confirming the cause of the blaze.
“We know it started in a small wastebasket and moved from the couch and then to the drapes,” Poire said. “From there it was off to the races.”
Larralde said his parents bought the home in 1954, and a date scratched into the concrete foundation indicates it was built in 1914. He spent yesterday mopping up water on the first floor and drying photographs. He lost most of his belongings in the blaze.
“I’ve got to shopping,” Larralde said, looking down at his T-shirt and shorts, the only clothes he has left.
Fire and housing inspectors told Larralde and his mother that scorched rafters may cause the roof to collapse, so they will be staying in a guest house in the backyard as they rebuild. Yesterday afternoon, Larralde stood waiting on the front porch for a dumpster to arrive so he could start hauling trash and fire debris out of the home.
Fire officials emphasized the need for homeowners in the area to create defensible space around their dwellings and prepare a fire escape plan.