Smoke was visible for miles coming from two single-family homes ravaged by fire in Sunnyvale on Wednesday morning.
About 9:25 a.m., crews responded to the neighboring houses on the 900 block of Lantana Drive, a few blocks away from the intersection of Lawrence Expressway and El Camino Real, Sunnyvale Fire Capt. Jeff Hunter said.
Crews extinguished the three-alarm fire by about 11: 45 a.m., a Department of Public Safety captain said.
Neighbors who live near the fires were being asked to evacuate, Hunter said. Neighborhood residents told NBC Bay Area the power was out in the area near the fire until about 11 a.m.
According to employees at nearby Ponderosa Elementary School, on the 800 block of Lantana, no evacuations were ordered.
No injuries were reported, although a 4-year-old Dalmatian did perish in the fire.
A resident of the home where the fire apparently began said it started in a kitchen that had recently been renovated. All the home's residents managed to escape safely.
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An in-home daycare service was being operated out of one of the homes. Everyone inside that home, including a toddler, escaped safely.
NBC Bay Area's helicopter captured images of a neighboring homeowner trying to douse his own roof with a hose to prevent the flames from spreading.
Joseph Moreno said he was “freaked out” and could feel the heat coming toward his house.
“I had to protect my property,” Moreno said, adding that he acted instinctually. “I couldn’t believe I got up on the roof so fast.”
Moreno was only up on the roof for a few minutes before police threatened to arrest him if he didn’t come down.
All the houses on the 900 block of Lantana are worth at least $1 million, according to Zillow.com.
Local
Elizabeth Kerridge posted on NBC Bay Area's Facebook page that she lives in the neighborhood and talked to a man who lives at one of the homes that caught fire.
"They all got out out including the cats! The neighbors have really rallied to help the whole family out," Kerridge wrote.
Both homes are a total loss.
