Fire Displaces 3 Valencia Park Residents

SAN DIEGO, CA: A late-morning fire caused an estimated $325,000 worth of damage to a Valencia Park home Monday and left three people in need of interim lodging.

Flames began spreading through a back bedroom in the single-story house in the 5300 block of Encina Drive shortly after 10:30 a.m., according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.

A resident of the burning home erroneously told arriving engine crews his roommate remained inside, prompting a search that slowed down the task of putting out the fire, SDFRD spokesman Lee Swanson said. The personnel had the blaze fully under control within 25 minutes, Swanson said.

No injuries were reported.

The American Red Cross was called in to help the displaced residents — a husband and wife and a man who lives with them — arrange for housing.

The cause of the fire remained under investigation in the late afternoon. Investigators set the monetary losses at $275,000 to the structure and $50,000 to contents, Swanson said.

—City News Service

(Image via Shutterstock)

Updated at 5:01 p.m. April 4, 2016