Hoarder's house goes up in flames

HESPERIA • An early-morning fire destroyed a Hesperia home packed to the roof with various items, San Bernardino County Fire officials said Sunday.

“There was so much stuff in there, the fire burned incredibly hot,” said Eric Sherwin, spokesman for the Fire Department.

When firefighters arrived at the uninhabited home in the 8400 block of Fourth Avenue a little after 5 a.m., flames were shooting out of the roof, Sherwin said.

The hoard mostly consisted of paper and periodicals. Hesperia Code Enforcement officials boarded up the home, which made it difficult for firefighters to get inside, officials stated.

The home had previously been proclaimed uninhabitable, but the resident kept returning, authorities said. That’s when Code Enforcement authorities closed up the house.

“They had to do that to prevent anyone from getting in and possibly getting hurt because of the sheer amount of stuff in there,” Sherwin said.

Sherwin explained that in a typical fire, firefighters enter the home and try to remove items and place them outside to battle the blaze more effectively. That couldn’t be done in Sunday’s incident.

It took firefighters from Hesperia and Victorville an hour to get the fire under control, though it was a complete loss.

The damage was so extensive, officials made the decision to bulldoze the 4,000-square-foot home.

No one was injured in the blaze and the incident is currently under investigation by both county fire investigators and San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Bomb and Arson detectives.