By Kate Day

Firefighters work to extinguish the fire that gutted the McGrath family home on Higgins Avenue May 17. joe hu/town crier

A Los Altos family spoke of their devastation after fire destroyed their home in the 100 block of Higgins Avenue last Thursday morning. No one was injured in the blaze, which ripped through the single-story property, causing an estimated $700,000 of damage and robbing the family of most of their possessions.

“The whole family’s devastated,” property owner Barrett McGrath told the Town Crier Friday. “We’re going to have to start again from the beginning.”

Firefighters responded to the alarm at 10:49 a.m. and discovered 30 percent of the roof had been destroyed, according to a spokeswoman for the Santa Clara County Fire Department. They called a second alarm at 11:02 a.m. Approximately 25 fire personnel battled the blaze until 4:40 p.m. Only two rooms were untouched by flames, though both suffered water and smoke damage, McGrath said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation but it is not thought to be arson, the spokeswoman said. It appears that the fire was electrical and started in a bathroom at the back left of the property, she added.

“The main thing is that all the family are OK,” said a tearful McGrath. “More often than not my two older daughters would have been asleep in the house at that time.”

The family’s dog had a lucky escape when a painter working at neighbor Vicki Silver’s property on Almond Avenue ran into the burning building before firefighters arrived to check that no one was inside. Sadly, the family’s 13-year-old cat was killed, McGrath said.

Burning debris from the fire sparked a small roof fire on a property on nearby El Monte Court. Homeowners were able to extinguish this fire, which caused $500 of damage, the spokeswoman said.

The McGrath family had lived at their property for 10 years and remodeled their home in 1998. McGrath said some of the saddest losses were the boxes of family memorabilia kept in the garage, which was gutted.

McGrath thanked emergency services employees and community members for their support.

Family members are staying with friends and hope to rent a property in Los Altos until the rebuilding is complete, which could take about 12 months, McGrath said. “This just shows, don’t procrastinate,” he said. “Do everything that you can to make your house safe. Don’t leave it until tomorrow.”

McGrath’s warning proved timely after firefighters tackled blazes at two other properties in Los Altos on Sunday. A property on the 200 block of Frances Drive suffered $4,000 of damage and $400 of contents loss when old wiring in a light over a shower started a blaze in the bathroom ceiling. Firefighters from the county fire department responded to the alarm at 8:55 a.m..

Later on Sunday, county firefighters were again called to Los Altos when an oven caught fire at a residence on the 1600 block of Parkhills Avenue at 7:13 p.m. The property sustained $15,000 of damage and $1,000 of contents loss. No one was injured in either incident.