Two Alarm House Fire in Mount Helix Displaces Residents

A family was displaced from their Mount Helix area home on Tuesday, after an early morning fire ripped through the attic and other parts of the house.

As crews from the responded to a 9-1-1 call, flames were already shooting through the roof of the single-family home located on the 9800 block of Ogram Drive. Once on scene, San Miguel Firefighters discovered the fire was burning through the attic of the 4,200-square-foot, single-level home and called in a second alarm.

The two occupants of the home woke up at about 11:45 p.m., Monday to see smoke coming from the attic. They quickly made the emergency call and promptly evacuated.

Given the extensive dollar loss, San Miguel Fire called in the Sheriff’s Bomb/Arson team to conduct the investigation. The homeowner told firefighters there had been smoke coming from a ceiling can light earlier in the day. The homeowner indicated he had cut power to the fixtures and there was no additional indication of fire.

The official investigation as to the cause is underway.

Crews from El Cajon, La Mesa, San Diego and CAL FIRE joined San Miguel Fire  as part of an automatic mutual aid response. In total, about 45 people respond to the fire, including members of the American Red Cross.

No other structures were damaged, and no injuries reported. A preliminary estimate of property loss is set at $350,000.

While the fire was considered “knocked down” at 12:29 a.m. Tuesday, fire crews remained on the scene throughout the night. Given the nature of the blaze it is necessary for crews to conducting an extensive overhaul of the structure, to insure there are no flare ups in the attic or walls.

10News was able to get video of the fire.

For additional information as to the cause and an updated dollars loss please contact the San Diego Sheriff Department’s Bomb/Arson team.

San Miguel Fire District contributed to this report.