LATHROP — Lathrop-Manteca firefighters assisted by members of the Manteca Fire Department aggressively attempted to save an older wooden home Friday afternoon, but it became fully involved and was reportedly a total loss.

The fire was in the 1700 block of Park Street just east of McKinley Avenue and north of Louise Avenue.  The call went out to firefighters at about 2:30 p.m.

Gene Neeley, chief of the Lathrop-Manteca Fire Department, said the blaze was suspicious in nature since it had been “red tagged” in August prohibiting anyone from residing in the building.

He noted there were several individuals who said they had been allowed to enter the house during the day, noting they couldn’t stay there during the night.  He added that there was no electricity running in the building supporting his suspicions about the cause.

Neeley said it appeared that the fire had started in the living room near the southwest corner of the structure.  There were no firefighters injured in the blaze from either of the two fire departments. 

Lathrop-Manteca had nine men on the scene and Manteca sent three on one engine for mutual aid.  The Manteca District Ambulance also had one of their units on the scene to safeguard against fire personnel who might have been injured.