Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Just a Sunday afternoon trash fire on National Ave.

What the landlord’s water device did.

Firetruck responding to the trash can fire in the alley of the 2900 block of National Avenue.  They quickly doused the fire.
Firetruck responding to the trash can fire in the alley of the 2900 block of National Avenue. They quickly doused the fire.

Around 3:45 on Sunday afternoon, March 23, 2014, a bright clear windy afternoon, firefighters responded to a fire in the 2900 block of National Avenue. A neighbor around the corner had smelled smoke and called the fire department, and another neighbor had alerted the residents of the house, who were at a local market and rushed home.

A woman who was standing down the street said she saw one man pull a black trash can from a yard into the alley, the trash can was on fire, while another man was trying to douse the flames with a garden hose, then the first man pulled another trash can which was smoking out into the alley; both trash cans were the black plastic wheeled type issued by the city, the first one quickly burning right down to the wheels. Just then, a firetruck arrived and put out the fire.

Sponsored
Sponsored

In response to a query, one of the fireman said, "Oh, it was just a trash fire." The smell and the smoke had penetrated the nearby homes causing all the neighbors down 30th Street to rush outside. The fireman said, "The wind was blowing in that direction, that's why."

The two black trash cans involved in the fire had been sitting in the corner just inside the fence, left side of the picture, next to the blue recycling bin. The two bird cages mentioned in the story are on top of the vehicle.

After a few minutes, while the blackened charred pile was still steaming, the firefighters left, and a man began to clean up the mess with a shovel, dumping it into the other trash can which was heavily damaged, the plastic lid and some of the side completely melted. Two other men stood inside the yard, and then two women appeared, the group silently surveying the damage, as the one man worked. One of the women said, "We tried to put out the fire, but the landlord had installed some kind of water restricting device and the water wasn't coming out hard enough to stop the fire."

When they were asked what happened, the women responded that they didn't know. "We can't understand why the fire started. There was nothing to start a fire in the trash can. Maybe someone walking by threw a cigarette in the yard and that started the fire." Which didn't seem probable since the trash cans are lidded, and the fence is approximately six feet high with netting obscuring the view inside. One of the men jokingly said, "The dog was smoking." There was a small beige dog, Chihuahua-mix, in the yard.

On top of a vehicle parked right next to where the cans had been located were two bird cages appearing to be empty and clean. It was observed that luckily the birds were not in the cages or the smoke would have killed them. One of the woman looked at the cages and said, "They are out here because the birds died yesterday. Two of them. A cockatoo, and a parrot." When asked what happened to the birds, the woman replied, "We don't know. They died yesterday, we don't know why. They just died, both of them."

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Live Five: Sitting On Stacy, Matte Blvck, Think X, Hendrix Celebration, Coriander

Alt-ska, dark electro-pop, tributes, and coastal rock in Solana Beach, Little Italy, Pacific Beach
Firetruck responding to the trash can fire in the alley of the 2900 block of National Avenue.  They quickly doused the fire.
Firetruck responding to the trash can fire in the alley of the 2900 block of National Avenue. They quickly doused the fire.

Around 3:45 on Sunday afternoon, March 23, 2014, a bright clear windy afternoon, firefighters responded to a fire in the 2900 block of National Avenue. A neighbor around the corner had smelled smoke and called the fire department, and another neighbor had alerted the residents of the house, who were at a local market and rushed home.

A woman who was standing down the street said she saw one man pull a black trash can from a yard into the alley, the trash can was on fire, while another man was trying to douse the flames with a garden hose, then the first man pulled another trash can which was smoking out into the alley; both trash cans were the black plastic wheeled type issued by the city, the first one quickly burning right down to the wheels. Just then, a firetruck arrived and put out the fire.

Sponsored
Sponsored

In response to a query, one of the fireman said, "Oh, it was just a trash fire." The smell and the smoke had penetrated the nearby homes causing all the neighbors down 30th Street to rush outside. The fireman said, "The wind was blowing in that direction, that's why."

The two black trash cans involved in the fire had been sitting in the corner just inside the fence, left side of the picture, next to the blue recycling bin. The two bird cages mentioned in the story are on top of the vehicle.

After a few minutes, while the blackened charred pile was still steaming, the firefighters left, and a man began to clean up the mess with a shovel, dumping it into the other trash can which was heavily damaged, the plastic lid and some of the side completely melted. Two other men stood inside the yard, and then two women appeared, the group silently surveying the damage, as the one man worked. One of the women said, "We tried to put out the fire, but the landlord had installed some kind of water restricting device and the water wasn't coming out hard enough to stop the fire."

When they were asked what happened, the women responded that they didn't know. "We can't understand why the fire started. There was nothing to start a fire in the trash can. Maybe someone walking by threw a cigarette in the yard and that started the fire." Which didn't seem probable since the trash cans are lidded, and the fence is approximately six feet high with netting obscuring the view inside. One of the men jokingly said, "The dog was smoking." There was a small beige dog, Chihuahua-mix, in the yard.

On top of a vehicle parked right next to where the cans had been located were two bird cages appearing to be empty and clean. It was observed that luckily the birds were not in the cages or the smoke would have killed them. One of the woman looked at the cages and said, "They are out here because the birds died yesterday. Two of them. A cockatoo, and a parrot." When asked what happened to the birds, the woman replied, "We don't know. They died yesterday, we don't know why. They just died, both of them."

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Escondido planners nix office building switch to apartments

Not enough open space, not enough closets for Hickory Street plans
Next Article

Live Five: Sitting On Stacy, Matte Blvck, Think X, Hendrix Celebration, Coriander

Alt-ska, dark electro-pop, tributes, and coastal rock in Solana Beach, Little Italy, Pacific Beach
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader