A fire destroyed a home in the 800 block of East Windsor, with Tucson Fire crews battling a huge fire load in the home deemed a hoarder house. Multiple calls were made to 9-1-1, many indicating a fire in the backyard but spreading to the house.
The initial TFD unit arrived and confirmed the fire had caught the rear patio on fire and was inside the home. The Engine Company attempted to gain entry into the front door but wasn’t able to do so. They then attempted to enter through a door in the carport area but again unsuccessfully.
The captain realized they were dealing with a house with a huge fire load, a hoarding house, and notified all responding units. Crews continued battling the fire from the exterior while trying to gain access to inside. A relative of the resident arrived on scene and confirmed the resident wasn’t home and he had no pets.
The decision was made to fight the fire defensively, from the outside, due to the dangers involved with the heavy volume of material inside the home. Multiple hose lines were used to extinguish as much of the fire through the windows with the ladder crew also cutting multiple holes in the roof and extinguishing the flames from above.
Once the bulk of the flames were extinguished, firefighters began removing things from the home to gain better access and extinguish hot spots. Crews continued to remove material and put out hot spots for over an hour.
Nine units consisting of 23 firefighters initially responded to the fire and additional resources were dispatched to rotate fire fighters due to the extended operations in 90 degree temperatures.
There were no injuries reported by firefighters. Investigators were on scene but were still in the process of determining the cause and origin of the fire. The resident was not home at the time of the fire but was returning to the scene as firefighting operations were ongoing.