Editorials

A two-alarm blaze gutted an unoccupied three-story home on Thousand Oaks Boulevard early Wednesday morning. 

At about 3 a.m. firefighters were summoned to the area by neighbors on Yosemite Road who thought the blaze might be in their back yard. Rather, firefighters found “a fully involved fire coming out of the windows” in a home at 1854 Thousand Oaks, the street behind Yosemite, said Assistant Fire Chief David Orth. 

Losses are estimated at about $850,000 Orth said. 

He said the property had been recently sold and was undergoing renovations. Fire inspectors were unable to enter the house Wednesday to determine the cause of the fire.  

“They tried to enter the house. They started falling through the floor,” said Orth. “The stairways were gone. The roof was gone.” 

Five engines, two trucks, an ambulance, PG&E crews as well as East Bay Municipal Utility District personnel were called to the scene, Orth said.