DEL MAR HEIGHTS, Calif. — A fire ripped through a house on Portofino Dr. in Del Mar Heights, sending flames and smoke billowing into air.
The San Diego Fire Department says they encountered a hoarder house stacked from floor to ceiling with personal belongings. Rescue crews made the dangerous decision to enter the house searching for bodies in the smoke, but found the house empty.
“My wife started screaming, ‘Oh my God, oh my God,’ and there’s just a little smoke and all of a sudden it went like boom, flames 20 feet in the air,” said Micheal Dender, a neighbor from across the street.
The flames were spreading to a next-door house, but fire crews from San Diego, Del Mar, Solana Beach and Encinitas helped stop the blaze.
Early in the fire, neighbors did their best to stall the flames from getting out of control.
“Emotionally I’m freaking out because I’m hoping they are going to let me live in my house tonight. My windows are blown out and my wood floors are covered in water,” neighbor Nina Prince said.
Prince was able to get back to her home for the night, but her neighbor’s home is destroyed.
The origin of the fire is still unknown; no one was hurt in the incident.