Last night the Yuma Fire Department responded to several fires. Shortly after 9:00 PM a palm tree was reported to be on fire due to fireworks in the 500 Block of South 15th Avenue. Arriving YFD firefighters found three large palm trees fully engulfed in the back yard of a residence. The fires were extinguished, and all of the nearby structures were protected from catching fire. The fires were successfully contained to the palm trees. Occupants of the nearby homes were evacuated temporarily as a precaution but were able to reoccupy their homes as soon as the fire was out.
Several minutes after the palm tree fire occurred, a garage fire was reported in the 7500 Block of East 45th Street. Arriving YFD firefighters found heavy smoke and flames coming from a residence and quickly knocked the fire down and extinguished it before it could spread to the living space of the home, or any other structures. There were two adults and one child home when the fire occurred, and they were able to evacuate safely. There were no injuries. MCAS Structural Fire Department provided mutual aid, and the American Red Cross responded to assist the family and their pet. The cause of this fire was determined to be from improperly discarded smoking materials.
Just after midnight, YFD responded to the 300 Block of West 32nd Street for a report of smoke seen inside of a restaurant. Firefighters arrived to find a small pile of soiled rags smoldering inside of a storage closet at a local restaurant. The pile was cooled, and it was kept from entering a flame/free burning state. The damage was limited to the rags themselves, and the business did not have any service disruption because of the incident. The cause of the smoldering pile of rags is believed to be an internal heating event due to the oils in the rags and the organic materials they were made of.
Although it was a busy night for your Yuma firefighters, the incidents were not related, and there is no reason to believe any of the fires were intentionally set.
