Two Fires Strike Novato Homes Within 4 Minutes on Sunday

Two fires struck Novato’s west side within four minutes of each other Sunday afternoon, keeping personnel busy. No injuries were reported.

Flames on the side yard of a house at 9 Gertrude Lane were called in at 2:10 p.m., prompting a response of two engines, a medic crew and 10 fire personnel to the Pleasant Valley area, according to Battalion Chief Jeff Veliquette. Firefighters worked to put out flames in the garage, side yard and a neighbor’s shed while occupants of the house waited in a friend’s front yard.

Veliquette said the fire appeared to start in a debris pile on the side yard and that an investigation into the cause and damage was ongoing. He said he was concerned about some sagging power lines in front of the house.
Fifteen firefighters were initially called to the address, but Veliquette called off the extra help once his crew had it under control.

Some fire personnel from the downtown Novato station initially headed to Gertrude Lane were diverted to 5 Isabella Court, off San Carlos Way in the San Marin neighborhood, when that call was made four minutes after the Gertrude fire.

Acting Captain Jeff Larkin said a woman in the Isabella Court home was going to cook some popcorn “the old-fashioned way” on her stovetop when her dog and her smoke detector alerted her to a fire.

“She managed to extinguish it by throwing a throw rug onto it,” Larkin said. “She said she did have an extinguisher but it had recently been serviced and she didn’t know where it had been put. The closest thing to her was the throw rug.”

Crews pulled off the charred hood to her stove and made sure it was isolated from the power source, then made sure the fire hadn’t spread to cabinets, Larkin said.

“She lucked out, I think,” he said.

Two engines and six firefighters were at the Isabella Court fire, he said.