Investigators are still looking for the cause of a house fire in Madera County. Witnesses said they heard screams for help coming from a home on Avenue 20 1/2 near Road 26 in Madera County.
Fire fighters say a man who lives in the home was taken to the hospital with burns. A man who works at a nearby farm said he heard several popping sounds and then saw the flames shoot up through the roof. That witness, Ricardo Alvarado, said he heard someone in the home screaming out for help.
Alvarado says he and his co-workers helped the man get away from the home after they found him laying on the porch. They said the man had burns over most of his body. "We just tried to get him out of there, out of the house, the porch -- me and my partners. We thank God that we were there to try to help him out."
The home also doubles as a pet boarding and grooming facility. Battalion Chief Rhonda Myers said only a portion of the house burned. The damage is mostly to the converted garage area, that is also where the animals are groomed.
It's not clear whether there were animals in that portion of the house. Fire fighters say the boarding area is in the back part of the property. That building was not damaged by the fire.
