Friends help family who lost house

Friends are helping a Carson Valley single mother of four who lost most of her possessions in a fire on a Gardnerville ranch Monday evening.

Lisa Fricke lost her home on the family ranch in a fire at about 4 p.m. Monday. The investigation is continuing.

Friend Ali Hernandez said the family lost most of their clothes and furniture in the fire, though they were able to recover some of their personal belongings.

"We rummaged through the stuff," Hernandez said. "She had tons of scrapbooking materials. We were able to salvage a lot of the pictures of her mom and the children, but it all got smoke or water damage."

The family lost at least two cats in the fire, according to Hernandez.

East Fork Fire & Paramedic Districts Chief Tod Carlini said the fire started in the south end of a double-wide mobile home.

Carlini said that by the time firefighters arrived, a third of the home was ablaze and the fire was in the attic.

East Fork Fire Marshal Steve Eisele said the fire was started by improperly discarded smoking materials.

The material ignited the deck and the fire spread to the home's attic and crawl space.

Eisele said the home, which was built in 1999, was more a modular unit then a mobile home.

Firefighters aggressively attacked the fire, but Carlini said it quickly moved through the attic.

"Attics are made to breathe, which works against putting the fire out," he said. "With the vents, fire in the attic turns into a blow torch."

Firefighters had to bring their own water to the fire, as the ranch had no hydrants. Portable tanks were set up in the middle of Centerville and filled from water tenders.

Carlini estimated about 30 firefighters worked the blaze, with units from Gardnerville, Gardnerville Ranchos, Ruhenstroth, Genoa, Minden and the East Fork Fire District. Douglas County Sheriff's deputies closed off Centerville at Waterloo Lane and Dresslerville Road.

No one was injured in fighting the blaze, though one firefighter went through the floor of the building. The Fricke Ranch is located at 1255 Centerville Lane.

You can help

Ali Hernandez is coordinating a relief effort for the Fricke family.

She can be reached at 267-1420.

Clothes sizes for the Fricke children are:

Lance, 2 1/2 years old, size 4

Tyler, 5, size 6

Cameron, 10, size 10

Kaitlyn, 15, size 7.