Fire consumes YC house

Irony was abundant Friday at the Yuba City home of Scott and Sarah Smothers, which was virtually destroyed by fire.

For example, there was the bright yellow fire hydrant in the yard, only about 15 feet from the remains of the front porch.

"We always thought we'd be good if there was a fire," Sarah Smothers said with a laugh.

The two-alarm fire in the 100 block of Edgewater Way was reported about 12:15 a.m. An electrical problem in a downstairs living room was the apparent cause, said Fire Chief Marc Boomgaarden.

Sarah said humor was her way of coping — initially, anyway — with the loss of her home and virtually everything in it.

A few other items were saved from the garage, the only part of the house not gutted. The items were — ironically — unwanted things they had planned to sell at a garage sale.

Scott Smothers and firefighters also managed to get his motorcycles out of the garage, including his Father's Day gift, a new orange Honda that sustained some damage.

Boomgaarden put damage to the house and contents at about $360,000.

"This was a big event for us," Boomgaarden said about the blaze, which scorched the side of an adjacent house.

City building inspectors think the 12-year-old house is too badly damaged to repair, the chief said.

Scott escaped the flames with the couple's two nephews, Brock, 15, and Zachary, 11, but hurt his back jumping from a second-floor deck. Sarah, a nurse, was working at Rideout Memorial Hospital.

Scott said he was awakened by the smell of smoke and went downstairs to find the living room already engulfed. He raced back upstairs to wake Brock and Zachary. Once they were out of the house, Scott said, he ran back upstairs to put on more clothes.

When he tried to come back down, the stairs were ablaze, He took the only other way out — a leap from the second-floor deck outside the couple's bedroom.

The fire moved with extreme speed, said Scott, who had no complaint about the Fire Department's response time.

The house had smoke alarms, but they had been disabled during a remodeling project, said Boomgaarden.

Still missing Friday was one of the family dogs, Dodger, a yellow Lab mix.

Firefighters "are pretty sure he's not in the house," said Sarah.

Brock and Zachary were out on their bicycles Friday afternoon, searching for the dog near the Feather River levee about a quarter-mile away.

Dodger has a blue collar and tags, said Sarah.

The family's other dog, a mutt named Hayden, made it out alive and was being cared for by neighbors, she said.

Among items lost in the fire were countless family pictures and Brock's and Hayden's wrestling trophies and ribbons, said Sarah, whose husband is head coach of the Twin Cities Wrestling Club.

"The rest of the stuff is replaceable," she said.

The family is staying with Sarah's sister.

The Olivehurst, Linda, Marysville and Sutter County fire departments aided the Yuba City Fire Department.

Appeal-Democrat reporter Rob Young can be reached at 749-4710. You may e-mail him at ryoung@appeal-democrat.com