A fire caused $475,000 in losses to a home and its contents in the 1500 block of Sierra Creek Drive just west of Joshua Cowell School in East Manteca Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
Heavy grey pressurized smoke was coming from all the vents and the windows when firefighters arrived from Manteca, Lathrop and Ripon fire departments.  A full call back of off-duty firefighters was ordered along with PG&E, putting 22 personnel on the scene.
The crew from Manteca Engine 242 was the first at the home. Firefighters forced entry through the front door of the house and prepared for the fire attack.  Engine 244 pulled an exposure line to a neighboring house due to heavy flames and smoke coming from the structure and threading the nearby house.
Truck 24 was sent to the roof to perform vertical ventilation and Engine 33 was assigned a secondary attack line. Engine 243 and Engine 33 then made entry through the front and coordinated an aggressive fire attack with roof top ventilation.  Soon after the ventilation lines were cut, Truck 24 was pulled off the roof due to worsening conditions.
Engine 242 firefighters conducted a thorough search for victims and finding none gave an all clear.  The fire was brought under control in about 45 minutes, Battalion Chief David Marques said. Investigation revealed heavy smoke damage throughout the entire structure.  The front living room, common living areas and the entire attic suffered extreme fire damage’
Firefighting efforts were severely hampered by large amounts of items stored haphazardly throughout the house, the chief said. 
“It was difficult to advance hose lines and to search for victims and find any fire extensions due to the conditions,” he added.  “The fire appears to have started in the front bedroom and spread to the attic.”

To contact Glenn Kahl, email gkahl@mantecabulletin.com.