RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KNX) — A fire believed to have been started by an unattended candle caused significant damage to a Riverside home, officials said Thursday.
The blaze was reported shortly before 11 p.m. on Wednesday in the 4000 block of Elmwood Court, near Brandini Avenue, according to the Riverside Fire Department.
Battalion Chief Mike Allen said five engine crews and a truck, around two dozen personnel, responded to the scene and encountered a detached garage on fire immediately adjacent to a single-story house.
The garage had been converted into a "secondary residence" Allen said. The occupant escaped the fire without injury, but it still spread to the back of the main house before crews were able to extinguish it 30 minutes later.
The American Red Cross was requested to assist the occupant of the secondary residence with finding alternate lodgings, the chief said.
Allen said a candle left burning inside the garage ignited the fire, which caused an estimated $200,000 in damage.
