Home severely damaged in South Lake Tahoe fire

10.3.18 update: The South Lake Tahoe Fire Department has released their final report on the September 22 fire at a Sonora Avenue home.

According to their report, the exact cause of the fire could not be determined except that it started on the couch on the first floor.

Property loss is estimated at $200,000 with an additional $50,000 in contents loss. Smoke detectors were installed at the home and all went off when the fire started.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Emergency crews responded to two South Lake Tahoe fires on Saturday, one a house fire and another a brush fire.

At 3:58 a.m. on September 22, police and fire personnel responded to a fire behind the Rite Aid store on Al Tahoe Blvd. The fire was burning about 30 feet away from the back of the store according to South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue (SLTFR) Battalion Chief Karl Koeppen.

The cause of the fire could not be determined. Koeppen said the fire could have been smoldering and creeping around the brush for a few days before igniting. Police officers arrived first and did not see anyone in the area.

Firefighters were able to keep the fire contained to a 50-foot by 50-foot area.

Later that same day, a house fire on Sonora Avenue in South Lake Tahoe brought out response from both SLTFR and Lake Valley Fire Department.

At 8:44 p.m., firefighters responded to the home and jumped on the fire which started in a couch on the first floor of the two-story house. Nobody was home at the time but soon after it started one of the residents returned to get three dogs safely out of the house.

Koeppen said even though the fire was contained to the first floor, it burned so hot that the smoke detectors on the second floor melted.

The cause of the fire has not been determined. SLTFR knows it was started by an item being left on the couch, but what that item was is unknown. The residents have all been displaced.

Story was update to include three dogs instead of two.