Early Morning 2-Alarm Blaze Damages Cluttered Lafayette Home

LAFAYETTE (CBS SF) -- A 2-alarm fire erupted inside a cluttered home near downtown Lafayette early Thursday morning, heavily damaging the building before firefighters were able to bring it under control and prevent it from spreading to a nearby auto shop.

Lafayette Fire Battalion Chief Whit MacDonald said crews responded to calls reporting the blaze around 12:08 a.m. near the intersection of Golden Gate Way and Second Street.

"When we got on scene the downstairs of the two-story residence was on fire," he said.

Immediately, crews ran into problem entering the home because it was cluttered with debris. A second alarm was called in to bring additional resources to fight the blaze and prevent it from spreading.

"We had a difficult time making entry into the house due to a lot of debris," MacDonald said. "So we've had to stay defensive."

"There was a lot of materials in the way of making entry into the home similar to a hoarders home," he added. "Crews were trying to make interior entry while climbing over debris, it became unsafe."

Firefighters were forced to extinguish the flames using hoses from outside the building.

The occupants of the home were able to escape the blaze without injury. There were no injuries among the firefighters.

A cause of the fire remained under investigation. The home was heavily damaged.