SAN BERNARDINO >> Firefighters from six agencies responded Wednesday evening to a two-alarm fire that damaged two houses in the 1100 block of Bobbett Drive.
San Bernardino City firefighter Mike Arvizo was not aware of any injuries. Rhianon Alvarez, who said she lives a few houses down the street, said that one of the two houses had been abandoned since February.
The fire, which was reported at 5:41 p.m., took about 90 minutes to knock down, Arvizo said. “Packrat conditions” inside the larger of the two houses, where the fire apparently started, forced firefighters to begin their attack from outside, he said.
The fire then spread to a small house behind the house to the south, Arvizo said.
Powerlines behind the larger house collapsed, and Alvarez reported seeing electrical boxes explode.
San Bernardino City fire battalion chief Mike Bilheimer said Wednesday night the fire was under investigation.
More than a dozen fire trucks from San Bernardino City, San Bernardino County, San Manuel, Rialto, Redlands and Colton fire departments responded and staged along Bobbett Drive and nearby Base Line.