Fire in Murrieta Claims 3-Car Garage, Contents

Authorities are still unclear what caused a fire to claim a three-bay detached garage and all of its contents Tuesday night in Murrieta.

The fire in the 25000 block of Trilogy Trail Lane—off Ivy Street near Historic Downtown—was reported at 7:20 p.m., according to the Murrieta Fire Department.

The garage, located within 5 feet of the main house on the property, was fully engulfed when the first engine arrived on scene within five minutes, said Murrieta fire Chief Matt Shobert.

It took firefighters nearly 30 minutes to gain control of the fire, he said.

All of the city's fire engines were dispatched to the fire, and he expected crews to remain on scene for several hours. Cal Fire/Riverside County engines were called in to cover the rest of the city in the event they were needed.

The Murrieta Fire Department was able to utilize its truck equipped with a 75-foot ladder to shoot water down onto the raging flames.

"Applying water from an elevated point provides much more effective use of the water to extinguish the fire," Shobert said.

"It was good work that the home was saved being that close to a fully-engulfed garage," he said.

"When crews arrived and found the garage was fully involved, their efforts were then to focus on the buildings next to the garage that were not yet impacted by the fire to keep them from catching on fire.

"Once those exposures, as we call them, were protected from fire, we were able to direct our efforts at extinguishing the fire at its origin.

"The problem we have now that the fire is knocked down is we've got the roof collapsed in the garage area, we've got a wall here that is ready to go at any time.

"It is a real dangerous building right now, but we've still got a fire to put out. It is going to be meticulous and a lot of work—we are going to be here all night."

The homeowners, Gil and Janet Losi, were home at the time and quickly became alerted there was a fire.

"We heard the explosions, opened the door, could smell it, heard sirens, and realized it was us," Janet said, as she looked on from a neighbor's yard.

The Losi's and their neighbors directly to the right of the garage were evacuated as a precautionary measure.

"We did not lose our life," Janet said. "Our home and everything in it is all OK. We lost a garage."

They said, however, that there was a lot of value in the contents of the garage, which doubled as a workshop for their adult son.

"Our son—all of his history was in there, everything he has ever done in his life," Gil said.

Their son designs radio-controlled racing cars, and they estimated there was about $100,000 worth of equipment in the garage, as well as all of his records.

"He has been doing it for 20 years, and all of his history was in boxes in there," Gil said.

Gil also lost his car, a later model Dodge, and his wife's car that was parked near the garage may have been a loss, too, he said.

Thankfully, Gil, who shows collector cars throughout the country and won Best of Show in the Murrieta Father's Day Car Show last summer, said his cars were spared as they were at a different location.

"But we lost a lot of tools, a lot of pictures, a lot of memories, a lot of the trophies I've won over the years," Gil said.

"It is absolute shock, it is surreal, you don't believe it is happening," Janet said, about her first reaction.

"We haven't got a clue how it started."

A Murrieta fire investigator was on scene, and authorities said the cause of the fire was yet to be determined.

"It is too soon to tell how it started," Shobert said. "...We won't know until we can get in there and take a look."

Someone who lives nearby and was driving on Ivy Street was the first to call and report the fire, the Losi's said.

"But I didn't get their name," Gil said. "Very nice, very nice people."