Atherton Man Escapes Fire, Suffers Injury After Reentering Home

ATHERTON (CBS SF) -- A one-alarm fire at a three-bedroom home in Atherton early Wednesday morning sent one person to the hospital with smoke inhalation injuries and caused roughly $220,000 in damage, fire officials said.

Atherton police notified the Menlo Park Fire Protection District of a structure fire in the first block of Belbrook Way around 12:40 a.m. Wednesday.

Firefighters arrived at the scene, above Alameda De Las Pulgas and off Walsh Road, at 12:47 a.m. and brought the fire under control at 1:01 a.m., according to Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman.

A man in the home was woken up by a dog and successfully escaped from the burning building, but for some reason he went back in and was overwhelmed by the smoke.

He was rescued and transported to a hospital around 1 a.m.

The fire originated in an empty carport, but the cause of the fire remains under investigation. The fire damage was contained to the carport, some nearby vegetation, a bedroom and the entryway, while the kitchen, living room and another bedroom were damaged by smoke.

The house sustained roughly $170,000 in structural damage and roughly $50,000 worth of contents were destroyed.

"The firefighters did a good job of stopping the fire spread inside the building and outside into vegetation that could easily spread and become its own problem," Schapelhouman said in a statement. "Fortunately, our firefighters made sure that did not occur."

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