Fire destroys historic Hercules home

Fire crews extinguished a fire at an abandoned historic home in Hercules today, fire officials said.

Rodeo Hercules Acting Battalion Chief Darren Johnson said firefighters responded to a structure fire at 12:58 p.m. in a building on Railroad Avenue at Santa Fe Avenue near a set of railroad tracks parallel to the San Francisco Bay Trail.

Johnson said the building was a historical home that had been moved approximately 15 years ago and was sitting on wooden platforms 5 feet above the ground.

Firefighters were unable to access the elevated structure and it was almost entirely consumed by flames by the time fire crews arrived, Johnson said.

Brush, grass, railroad ties and fence posts were also burning, Johnson said.

The structure could not be salvaged. There were no injuries reported.

Johnson said 22 firefighters from Hercules, Rodeo, Pinole, El Sobrante, El Cerrito, and San Pablo doused the blaze within two hours.