Lodi boarding house fire displaces 47
Lodi firefighters wearing breathing gear moved quickly into a boarding house on South Main Street in Lodi on Wednesday evening, using power tools as they worked to locate the source of a structure fire.
The Lodi Fire Department sent a single engine to the Golden Era Hotel and Boarding House, 18 S. Main St., Lodi at approximately 6 p.m. Wednesday and arrived to find smoke coming from the building, Battalion Chief Ronald Penix said.
“We’re still, at this point, trying to find the source of the fire,” Penix said. “The smoke is so thick that you can’t see your hand in front of your face.”
After additional engines ensured that the apartments facing South Main Street closest to the fire were clear, firefighters began searching for the source of the fire, believed to have started in the building’s basement.
A Golden Era resident who wished to remain anonymous said he arrived shortly after the firefighters when he saw the smoke.
“I don’t even know what happened. I just got here and saw all the smoke. (The firefighters) are using every tool they’ve got to get in there,” the resident said.
While Penix cleared an ambulance and a Stockton fire engine to leave the scene of the fire, Lodi firefighters continued digging up floorboards and breaking through concrete on the sidewalk to try and find where the fire started.
“Every time we strip away some of the floor, we find more fire burning in the subfloor. So, we’re probably going to be here for a while,” Penix said.
Penix also contacted the American Red Cross to help the boarding house’s residents, he said, who were displaced due to the building’s power being shut off as a safety precaution.
“We’ve got about 47 residents who are going to be displaced for the night,” Penix said.
No injuries were reported as of press time.