Ceres firefighters made quick work of a two-alarm fire that broke out in a residential garage on Bavil Drive on Sunday.
"Nobody was really hurt but one man was taken to the hospital to be evaluated for smoke inhalation," said Chief Brian Hunt of Ceres Fire.
Firefighters were called to the 2000 block of Bavil at 11:40 a.m. and arrived to find flames and smoke consuming the attached garage.
"There was a second alarm called but they knocked down the fire fairly quickly," said Hunt of the 20-minute attack.
Two cats were rescued.
After the blaze was extinguished, fire officials noticed that the owner of the house had incorrectly used power strips that were plugged into each other.
"They definitely had overuseage of power strips plugged into some heavy duty things like refrigerators and freezers," said Hunt. "A refrigerator is technically designed to be pluggfed into one outlet."
Smoke, water and fire damage rendered the house uninhabitable. Officials with the American Red Cross helped put up the displaced family - three adults and a juvenile - into emergency housing.
Structure damage was estimated at $50,000.
Assisting Ceres firefighters in battling the blaze were Modesto and Westport fire departments.
"Nobody was really hurt but one man was taken to the hospital to be evaluated for smoke inhalation," said Chief Brian Hunt of Ceres Fire.
Firefighters were called to the 2000 block of Bavil at 11:40 a.m. and arrived to find flames and smoke consuming the attached garage.
"There was a second alarm called but they knocked down the fire fairly quickly," said Hunt of the 20-minute attack.
Two cats were rescued.
After the blaze was extinguished, fire officials noticed that the owner of the house had incorrectly used power strips that were plugged into each other.
"They definitely had overuseage of power strips plugged into some heavy duty things like refrigerators and freezers," said Hunt. "A refrigerator is technically designed to be pluggfed into one outlet."
Smoke, water and fire damage rendered the house uninhabitable. Officials with the American Red Cross helped put up the displaced family - three adults and a juvenile - into emergency housing.
Structure damage was estimated at $50,000.
Assisting Ceres firefighters in battling the blaze were Modesto and Westport fire departments.
