House burns while Olivehurst resident on ice cream run

Mike Herrell stepped out for ice cream Friday night. He returned to hustling firefighters and flashing lights of fire engines.

A blaze broke out in the rear of his house in the 4600 block of Olivehurst Avenue at 8:25 p.m., destroying it.

Pebbles, an aging Chihuahua with cataracts survived, but her canine companion, Willie, perished in the blaze.

At one point, flames reached as high as 10 feet above the roof before firefighters knocked the fire down, which took about 30 minutes, said Olivehurst Fire Capt. Wade Harrison. The fire was extinguished within 45 minutes.

No one was injured in the fire. Traffic was closed on that stretch of Olivehurst Avenue for about 11⁄2 hours.

Herrell, who had rented the home for eight years and was caring for the dogs for a friend, walked around on the street in disbelief.

The windows of the small, white house were broken and wisps of smoke floated out from the eaves.

"I'm just trying to figure out what my next move is," he said.

The dogs, even though they were not his, were the first pets he ever had. Thankfully, he said, Pebbles was OK.

"Her tail's running, so I guess that's a good sign," Herrell said, as he held her in his arms and her white and black tail wiggled back and forth.

Harrison sad his initial estimate for damage was about $150,000 to the structure and $40,000 to $50,000 in contents. The house was a total loss, with extreme smoke and fire damage in the rear, where the kitchen and bedrooms were located.

Cause of the fire is under investigation.

Olivehurst, Linda and Wheatland fire departments aided in knocking down the fire. Yuba County sheriff's deputies and the California Highway Patrol helped provide traffic control.

CONTACT reporter Ashley Gebb at 749-4783.