Yuma residents upset about house fire they say could have been prevented
YUMA, AZ (AZFamily) — Yuma fire officials are investigating a house fire that burned a vacant home and dozens of cars on the property.
It happened near Avenue C and 16th Street.
The fire nearly spread to nearby homes, and residents blame the code enforcement officials. Some residents believe the fire could have been prevented.
“I called code compliance, I called three times. They never called me back. All my neighbors said they had called as well and they were never called back either,” said Ruth Leal, a Yuma resident.
Leal has lived at her home for over 40 years. She was evacuated while fire crews battled the blaze.
“The fireman told me he worked on that tree right there because it was burning so close to my house. He made sure it didn’t get to my house,” said Leal.
The Yuma Fire Department said they were first called about a palm tree on fire endangering nearby homes.
When they arrived, they found everything on the one-acre property completely engulfed in flames, including roughly 60 old, inoperable vehicles.
Leal said cars have accumulated on that property for years, and the trees haven’t been maintained.
“My daughter would tell me, she would say, ‘mom call code compliance because if you don’t, you’re gonna have a massive fire and it’s gonna burn all your house down’,” said Leal.
Arizona’s Family called Yuma’s city’s code compliance. They found a complaint from 2007 regarding a fence for that property, but no other complaints were found.
The complaint from 2007 determined the property had a high block wall where nothing in its yard was visible from the street, so a code case was never opened.
Since the fire, the code compliance department has opened an investigation to ensure the property’s owner has cleared it up properly.
Yuma’s building code supervisor said the best way to report a code violation is to fill out an application on the city’s website, Yuma Click & Fix.
The fire department is still investigating the cause of the fire.
“Crews were able to isolate the fire to the original lot with minimal damage to surrounding homes; a testament to the aggressive firefighting tactics employed by the firefighters. Crews utilized a defensive strategy, prioritizing the protection of nearby homes,” said David Padilla, Yuma Fire Department public information officer.
No injuries were reported, but a firefighter was transported to the hospital due to heat-related causes.
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