Fire destroys vacant house

Charles Doud/The Madera Tribune

A vacant house in the 400 block of west Clark Street, near Country Club Drive, burns down. The cause of the fire is undetermined.

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A fast moving fire destroyed a vacant house in the 400 block of west Clark Street near Country Club Drive and the new Vallarta Supermarket store, according to fire authorities. The cause is undetermined at this time. No injuries were reported.

Madera Battalion Fire Chief Anthony Garcia said the fire was first reported about 9:30 a.m. Monday and the older, approximately 1,000-square-foot wooden structure was fully engulfed in flames upon the arrival of the fire department.

“The power to the house was off and it was (already) burning heavily ... fully involved due to all the trash and debris inside.” Garcia said. “It also had the older siding and asbestos in the structure, so crews maintained a defensive posture. The structure next to it had burned about a month or so earlier,” and the area was frequented by squatters, he said.

It took multiple fire crews about an hour and a half to fully control and extinguish the fire, according to Garcia.

Residents say the area just north of the city near Country Club Drive to State Route 99 has been long plagued by homelessness encampments, and too many grass fires and structure fires to count, most of them in vacant or abandoned houses or buildings.