Oven Fire Destroys Healdsburg Senior Care Facility

HEALDSBURG, CA — Six seniors were displaced Sunday night when a two-alarm fire destroyed
the care facility where they lived, a Healdsburg Fire Department spokeswoman said. The fire at Magnolia Manor, at 387 Magnolia Drive just off U.S. Highway 101 on the south edge of the city, was reported about 6 p.m. Sunday as an oven fire.

"A 10-year-old boy named Carlos initially saw the fire in the oven and called his mom, who is a caretaker there," said Linda Collister, a Healdsburg fire marshal and division chief. "She opened the oven door, and then everything caught on fire."

The mother tried to put the fire out with an extinguisher, Collister said, without success. Her son, meanwhile, called 9-1-1.

Firefighters from Healdsburg, Geyserville, Cloverdale, Windsor, Forestville, Rincon Valley and Santa Rosa, as well as from Cal Fire, spent about four hours putting out the fire and mopping up, Collister said.

One of the displaced seniors went home with family members, Collister said, and the others were put up in a Healdsburg motel with the help of the American Red Cross.

The converted house, which did not contain sprinklers, is a total loss, Collister said. The cause of the oven fire remains under investigation.

By Bay City News Service

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