April 30, 2010 > Fire damages house in Hayward Fire damages house in Hayward By Meenu Gupta A Hayward house located at 1753 Egret Court, near Interstate Highway 880 and Industrial Boulevard was severely damaged on Friday, April 23. Around 9:32 a.m. the occupant, awakened by the smoke alarm, was able to get out safely with his dog. The fire destroyed the rear part of the house; about three-quarters of the home was damaged. Firefighters entered through the front of the house. "Their progress was hampered by a significant amount of clutter in the house," said Hayward Fire Department's Captain, Thor Poulsen. The rear wall had become unstable so crews were called back out of the house momentarily and had to fight the blaze from outside. "Firefighters climbed onto the roof and cut two large holes to release some of the heat and gases," said Poulsen. The fire was extinguished at 10:05 a.m. No injuries have been reported. "The cause of the fire is still under investigation; it is being treated as a crime scene right now because we do not know exactly what caused the fire," said Poulsen.