A fire at the historic Harlan House in San Ramon is being investigated as a potential arson, police said.
Police are not releasing additional information on the Wednesday morning fire, but said investigators are in contact with persons of interest and possible witnesses of the fire.
The fire was reported around 10:30 a.m. at the Gold Rush-era home at 19251 San Ramon Valley Boulevard, just west of 680. The flames burned through the second and first floor of the home, resulting in a complete loss.
San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District’s Battalion Chief Damien Alvarez said when crews arrived, they found a heavy fire burning on the second story. He estimates it only took a couple of minutes for crews to get the fire under control, but the damage still left the building beyond repair.
“Unfortunately, there was fire that consumed a majority of it, so as far as it being salvageable, it’s probably gone. Permanently,” Alvarez said.
Officers evacuated some homes south of the fire due to the large amount of smoke, but they did not find any victims inside of the home. No one was killed or injured in this fire.
A building inspector responded to the scene and red-tagged the historic home.
Although privately owned, the Harlan House has been sitting vacant for a long time, police said.
Neighbors told NBC Bay Area that they’ve seen vandalism and people in the vacant building recently.
“This is the first incident that I have been called to, but I guess in the past there have been other incidents at this location,” Alvarez said.
Many neighbors and people who drive through the area stopped to see the burned home, expressing their sadness to see the damage.
“I couldn’t believe it was on fire and that it had burned down,” said Jeff Castaneda of Pleasanton, who saw the home burning while he was driving past and stopped to look.
Castaneda said the Harlan House is a special type of building in the area, a type of building that is becoming more rare.
“It’s one of a few, and now there’s one less, you know. [It’s] just really sad,” he continued.
According to the Museum of the San Ramon Valley, this home was built in 1857 by the Harlan family, who used their earnings from the Gold Rush to purchase the land. This home is also known as “El Nido.”
Source: NBC Bay Area