Barstow firefighter injured as second ‘possible arson’ in a week torches desert house
An early-morning fire scorched a house in a remote desert area of Barstow, injuring one local firefighter and marking the second structure fire deemed “suspicious” by authorities in less than a week.
Thick clouds of black smoke could be seen emanating miles away from the blaze around 5 a.m. Monday, according to photos shared by Barstow resident Bianca Fair, who went to the scene and said it “sure seemed like (the structure) had been burning a long time before they put the fire out.”
Barstow Fire Protection District interim Chief Nick DiNapoli told the Daily Press the burning structure is a vacant house at 3195 Salamander Blvd., which sits in a sparse desert area just west of Interstate 15, a bit more than half a mile southwest of the Black Bear Diner along Lenwood Road.
“It’s Suspicious,” DiNapoli said in a text about the cause of the house fire. “Possible Arson.”
The interim fire chief says Barstow Police Department is now leading the investigation. As of midday Monday, the city PD didn’t corroborate the “suspicious” status of the fire.
“I don’t have anything to indicate that fire is suspicious,” Barstow Police Captain Chris Kirby said in a text.
The fire department logged an initial alarm time of 5:05 a.m. and said it extinguished the blaze at around 9 a.m. DiNapoli says the vacant-house fire “was fully involved when we got on the scene,” meaning the entirety of the structure had been enveloped by the blaze.
A Barstow Fire captain on Medic Engine 361 injured his knee while helping fight the flames. DiNapoli didn’t identify the captain but said he’d been taken to a hospital due to the injury.
The structure fire Monday morning adds to a recent string of fires in the High Desert.
Late on July 5, the historic El Rancho Motel went up in flames along the heart of Main Street, torching roughly three-quarters of the storied but recently-troubled structure where most rooms were “red-tagged,” or deemed unlivable by City of Barstow Code Enforcement officials on May 31.
The El Rancho fire has also been deemed “suspicious” by city police investigating that blaze for a potential criminal origin.
With that, a fire is now well over a month old in the guts of an 80-acre waste pit at a composting facility run by Maryland-based Synagro Technologies Inc., roughly two-dozen miles west of Barstow and far closer to the unincorporated town of Hinkley.
Numerous residents in both communities say another wave of foul smells that they attribute to this fire had overtaken the air outside of their homes late last week.
Charlie McGee covers California’s High Desert for the Daily Press, focusing on the city of Barstow and its surrounding communities. He is also a Report for America corps member with The GroundTruth Project, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization dedicated to supporting the next generation of journalists in the U.S. and around the world. McGee may be reached at 760-955-5341 or cmcgee@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @bycharliemcgee.
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Barstow firefighter injured as ‘possible arson’ scorches vacant house
