Tahoe man escapes fire, but home burns to the ground
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — A local man escaped from a fire last week that burned his home to the ground.
Lake Valley Fire Protection District responded about 8:30 p.m. to a house fire on Oneidas St, just off Pioneer Trail, and saw 74-year-old Gary Stuber outside with burn injuries.
Stuber escaped after the smoke detector was activated. Burns denied an ambulance ride and went to the hospital for treatment on his own.
The fire lasted until Sunday morning before it was finally put out.
When firefighters arrived the upstairs and downstairs of the home were completely engulfed.
According to Fire Chief Brad Zlendick, due to the volume of materials inside the residence, including ammunition that was constantly going off, the fire took the weekend to completely put out.
He said a tractor was used to excavate and dig into materials to reach the seat of the fire.
The cause of the fire is under investigation but officials say there appears to be no foul play involved.
Other fire agencies including South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue, Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District and North Tahoe Fire Protection District all assisted in efforts.
A GoFundMe page has been set up by a neighbor, Janet McDougall, to help assist the homeowner with costs. On Tuesday, the donation request was increased to help assist in the cost of removing hazardous materials from the house.
As of Wednesday morning $6,550 had been raised toward a $20,000 goal.
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