Fire At Mountain View Fourplex Destroys Roof; Coffee Roaster May Have Sparked Flames

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- A fire in Mountain View's Rex Manor neighborhood Wednesday morning that caused the roof of a fourplex to collapse may have been ignited in a coffee roasting machine in the garage, fire officials said.

A 911 call regarding the fire at 438 Mountain Laurel Court, off of Wright Avenue, was made at 8:33 a.m., and when firefighters arrived at 8:36 a.m., they found that the flames had spread from the garage to the second-floor living area and attic of one of the units.

Fire crews attacked the fire from inside and Mountain View Deputy Fire Chief Brian Jones and probationary firefighter Dan Hill went into the attic to keep it from spreading to the other units.

At 8:51 a.m., fire officials called in a second alarm to fight the heavy fire in the attic and the collapsing roof.

"Mountain View Fire’s aggressive attack of this fire enabled the three surrounding units in the fourplex to be saved," Mountain View fire officials said in a statement.

No injuries were reported.

"Our guys took a beating but saved the building," fire officials said.

Firefighters were assisted by other agencies, including the Palo Alto Fire Department and the NASA Ames fire battalion chief.

A resident told fire officials that the fire started in a coffee roasting machine in the garage, but the investigation into the fire's cause is ongoing.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

Photo via Mountain View Fire Department/Facebook