Monroe fire damages 2 vehicles, house, garage

11/12/2000

MONROE - A garage, two vehicles, and numerous tools burned and the vinyl siding on a neighboring house melted on Custer Street here yesterday morning after a fire was accidentally started by a man who was working on a vehicle.

Larry David Black, of 502 Conant Ave., was trying to put a pan underneath a vehicle from which gas was leaking when the bulb in his trouble light broke, igniting the gas that had already spilled, according to the Monroe fire department. He is a friend of Melvin Henson who owns the one-vehicle garage at 920 Custer St.

The fire, reported at 9:20 a.m., melted the siding on Carlos Ruvalcaba's house at 916 Custer, the fire department said. A vehicle parked outside the garage also was damaged.