UPDATED: Fire Burns Half of Home, Takes Pet's Life While Owners on Vacation

The , along with other local fire agencies, fought to extinguish a large house fire at 1542 Bradbury Road that was reported at 2:30 a.m. Monday morning and claimed the life of a pet rabbit. No one was home at the time.

“It was pretty much half gone when we got there,” said San Marino Fire Capt. Mark Phillips, who called it a “very big fire” and added that the homeowners were away on vacation. “It was a tough fire because it was extensive within the structure.”

Damage to the home is estimated at $300,000 and damage to contents is an estimated $50,000.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, but Phillips said it “looks to be accidental.”

Phillips said the SMFD arrived at 2:35 a.m., five minutes after two phone calls came in to the fire department to report the blaze, and made the initial attack on the fire while fire departments from South Pasadena, San Gabriel, Pasadena, Alhambra and Los Angeles County arrived shortly after to help.

Though flames shot 20 to 25 feet in the air, Phillips said, firefighters were able to prevent the fire from spreading to surrounding homes.

“Our leadership did a fantastic job,” said Phillips. “It’s a tough thing when you don’t know if anyone is inside.”

Neighbor called, fled

A next-door neighbor who did not want to give his name told Patch he heard two loud explosions at about 2:10 or 2:20 a.m. Monday. After the first explosion, he checked outside his back door and saw nothing. After the second explosion about five minutes later, he checked outside again and saw fire coming out of the back of the 1542 Bradbury Road home, where the kitchen was located.

The neighbor called 911. When police arrived, he, his wife and daughter drove away from their home, fearing it may also catch fire.

The homeowners were notified about the fire and are returning home early from vacation.

“It’s a tough situation; heartbreaking,” said Phillips. “They are very concerned, to say the least. They were grateful.”

Another area resident, Gordon Dudley who lives one block over on Rubio Drive, heard the fire engine sirens and went to Bradbury Road to see what was happening.

Roof is Gone

“I was amazed that there was still a roof on the house,” said Dudley, who added that he saw high flames that mostly came from the back of the house. Eventually, the roof was gone completely, Dudley said.

Firefighters battled the blaze for a little over an hour and then spent three hours investigating the scene for further fire hazards and to see what could be salvaged.

San Marino has had only one other fire—a small one—in the past year.

“The reason we don’t have many house fires in the city is because we have very good fire prevention,” said Phillips.

Fire prevention resources for residents include a CERT class, a home safety survey program where someone from the SMFD will evaluate a home for safety issues and a smoke detector program where someone will check home fire detectors and replace the batteries if necessary. 

Correction: An earlier version of this story said the fire took place at 1552 Bradbury Road. The fire actually took place at 1542 Bradbury Road. Patch regrets the error.