News

Palo Alto firefighters douse rooftop blaze

Fire caused up to $30,000 in damage to Georgia Avenue home

A fire that officials say began on the roof caused nearly $30,000 in damages to a home on Georgia Avenue in Palo Alto Saturday afternoon, March 10. No one was injured.

The fire was reported shortly after 1 p.m. in the 600 block of Georgia, near Amaranta Avenue. A neighbor spotted smoke and flames coming from the roof and called 911, Battalion Chief Chris Woodard said in a statement.

Woodard said the home was under construction and that a crew was working on the roof just before the fire was discovered. The work crew had reportedly left shortly before the neighbor noticed the fire.

Firefighters saw smoke and flames coming from the roof and extinguished the fire within about 10 minutes of arrival, Woodard said. The fire was limited to the roof, he said.

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Gennady Sheyner
 
Gennady Sheyner covers the City Hall beat in Palo Alto as well as regional politics, with a special focus on housing and transportation. Before joining the Palo Alto Weekly/PaloAltoOnline.com in 2008, he covered breaking news and local politics for the Waterbury Republican-American, a daily newspaper in Connecticut. Read more >>

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Palo Alto firefighters douse rooftop blaze

Fire caused up to $30,000 in damage to Georgia Avenue home

A fire that officials say began on the roof caused nearly $30,000 in damages to a home on Georgia Avenue in Palo Alto Saturday afternoon, March 10. No one was injured.

The fire was reported shortly after 1 p.m. in the 600 block of Georgia, near Amaranta Avenue. A neighbor spotted smoke and flames coming from the roof and called 911, Battalion Chief Chris Woodard said in a statement.

Woodard said the home was under construction and that a crew was working on the roof just before the fire was discovered. The work crew had reportedly left shortly before the neighbor noticed the fire.

Firefighters saw smoke and flames coming from the roof and extinguished the fire within about 10 minutes of arrival, Woodard said. The fire was limited to the roof, he said.

Comments

Willster
Palo Alto Hills
on Mar 12, 2012 at 10:25 am
Willster, Palo Alto Hills
on Mar 12, 2012 at 10:25 am

Great stop! See what full staffing can do? Support your local FD. No personnel cuts or station brown-outs.


David Pepperdine
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Mar 12, 2012 at 1:58 pm
David Pepperdine, Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Mar 12, 2012 at 1:58 pm

Let's invest more in neighbors too, since it was an alert neighbor who spotted this. I propose giving neighbors lifetime healthcare, retirement benefits after 20 years in the neighborhood (with opportunities to spike it with unused sick pay). Let's all line up to vote on this too.


dennis
Downtown North
on Mar 12, 2012 at 2:36 pm
dennis, Downtown North
on Mar 12, 2012 at 2:36 pm

That David Pepperdine is on the right track, with the proviso that the neighbors also respond to emergency calls beyond their neighborhood as well as actually engage in extinguishing fires, containing hazardous material spillage, administering first-aid, responding to vehicle crashes, and the routine rescue of endangered residents and pets.


Wondering
East Palo Alto
on Mar 12, 2012 at 2:54 pm
Wondering, East Palo Alto
on Mar 12, 2012 at 2:54 pm

"great stop!" is a phase only used by firefighters. I wonder...


actual neighbor
Green Acres
on Mar 12, 2012 at 10:49 pm
actual neighbor, Green Acres
on Mar 12, 2012 at 10:49 pm

Nice work by our firefighters! Please ignore the trolls, they don't speak for most of us!


Malik
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Mar 12, 2012 at 11:08 pm
Malik, Duveneck/St. Francis
on Mar 12, 2012 at 11:08 pm

Willster, if you want more firefighters, we'll have to stop cow-towing to their union and paying them 200K per year to mostly idle and respond to medical calls. If we bid the service out at market rate, we could double the size of the department if we wanted to (not that its necessary) and still have money left over for roads, infrastructure, schools, and other such nonsense that the city has decided is less important than overpaying our fire union.


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