Balloon construction helps fire spread
11-5-20 – Oxnard – 6:46am – Oxnard Fire, Ventura County Fire, Ventura City Fire, AMR, and Gold Coast Paramedics responded to reports of a structure fire with people inside of the residence in the agricultural fields of Oxnard Plains off of Gonzales Road.
First arriving units found moderate smoke coming from a water heater cabinet outside of the structure. By 7:00am firefighters called a knock down of the outside fire and continued to investigate as well as ventilate the rest of the structure.
As units were investigating further, moderate smoke began to pour out of vents around the residence. Mike Desforges a Public Information Officer with the Ventura County Fire Department stated “Due to what Firefighters call “Balloon construction” creates voids which allowed the fire to travel up the walls of the structure”.
Fire crews were able to call a final knockdown of the fire by 8:48am. Crews worked throughout the morning to extinguish all embers inside of the effected area of the structure.
Ventura County Fire are investigating the incident.
