Cooking oil left unattended on a stove ignited to spread a fire that destroyed a duplex residence on the city’s south side Saturday evening.
Neither of the two people home at the time was injured in the flash fire at 1332 El Camino Drive, Fire Chief Kurt Nelson said Monday. The residence is owned by Jeff Hornecker, he said.
A woman was heating oil on the kitchen stove while she also cooked on a grill on the home’s backyard patio at about 6 p.m., Nelson said. While she was outside the oil caught fire, sending flames flashing through the kitchen and into the home’s front room.
Firefighters knocked the flames down in about 20 minutes after their arrival, but not before they caused about $75,000 in damages.