A house under renovation on the Peninsula burned down Monday morning.
Neighbors and the fire department were surprised at how fast the home on the corner of Bell and Capitol in East Palo Alto became engulfed.
The fire chief tells NBC Bay Area that when crews arrived they could not save the house. They immediately went on the defensive to protect the garage and the home next door, where Danny Mariscal lives.
Mariscal could not believe that his house didn't go down as well.
“I thought our house was going to burn down, really,” Mariscal said.
The homeowner had been living in the garage while his house has been renovated. He was away at the time of the fire.
A fire investigator is trying to determine the cause, but the fire chief said he thinks it is odd that this home was so fully involved so soon after ignition.
