Mesa Fire crews face hoarding obstacle when battling house fire

MESA, Ariz. - Mesa Fire & Medical crews battled a house fire on Sunday and were met with obstacles caused by hoarding at the home, the department said.

Crews were in defensive mode at the home near Center Street and University Drive, battling the fire, keeping it from spreading further.

Inside the home were hoarding conditions that reached all the way to the ceiling. "So because of that, because of the danger that imposes on us, they decided to call the defensive strategy, which means we're going to have to fight the fire from the exterior," said Captain EMT, Sergio Romo.

Hoarding conditions are a red flag for firefighters, putting them in a dangerous position with low visibility to make sure the home is safe enough to battle the fire from the inside.

Courtesy of Mesa Fire & Medical

There's no known cause of the fire. No firefighters or occupants of the home were injured.

Chip Pelzer, a neighbor, heard when he thinks the fire began, saying, "There was a loud pop and the power went out and I can hear people yelling that we needed to get out."

Pelzer says that he's noticed the amount of stuff at the home, even reporting it to the city and complaining.

"I think they've done things. It seems like he was kind of cleaning stuff up, but it seems like he was just moving everything to the backyard. It’s a bummer. It’s not a good situation, it just seems like it was going to happen sooner or later."