Features

Hills home fire 

A suspicious fire caused more than $80,000 in structural damage to a home at 1154 Keeler Ave. in the Berkeley hills Saturday night. 

Deputy Fire Chief David P. Orth declined to comment on the specifics of what has led investigators to suspect an arsonist caused the blaze. 

“It’s still under active investigation,” he said. 

Fortunately for the homeowner, Berkeley Fire Department Station 7 is located just a few hundred feet away, allowing engines to respond within moments of the 9:24 p.m. calls, said Orth. 

“They had it under control within 10 minutes,” he said. The blaze apparently began in a storage area under the carport. 

In addition to the structural damage, the flames also did about $5,000 in damage to the home’s contents, Orth said.