Forestville home burns

A Forestville house that was about to change hands burned to the ground early Thursday in a fire that already was advanced by the time firefighters were called, officials said.

The vacant house on Ross Road near Highway 116 and Ross Station Road already was engulfed in flames when a neighbor, who happens to be a volunteer firefighter, alerted the Forestville Fire station shortly before 3 a.m., Fire Capt. Max Ming said. The neighbor also called 911, dispatching crews from several other county fire agencies, including the Graton, Russian River and Occidental fire departments, as well as CalFire, Ming said.

But there was little fire crews could do, he said.

“It’s a goner,” he said of the house.

Ming said the would-be buyer was on the scene early Thursday and said escrow was supposed to have closed Friday. The sellers already had moved out, and there was little in the way contents beyond kitchen appliances, Ming said. He said fire investigators believed they knew where the fire started but were waiting to meet with county inspectors to confirm it.

““We’ve got where it started,” he continued. “What and why and how, not yet."