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Investigators: Destructive Stanislaus County Fires May Be Connected

STANISLAUS COUNTY (CBS13) - Several fires ripped through part of Stanislaus County Saturday night, causing major damage.

The first fire was reported around 6:30 p.m. on South Seventh Street and destroyed four mobile homes. The second fire started a few hours later about a mile away and destroyed a pallet business.

Carl Tigner spent most of his Sunday with family sifting through his belongings, trying to salvage whatever he could.

"This is all material stuff, I look at it like no one got hurt and that's all that matters," said Tigner.

Tigner was attending mass on Saturday when he got a call from a friend telling him that his mobile home had burned down. He is one of several people displaced by the fire, which is still being investigated by Stanislaus County fire officials.

He says he plans to stay with family until he gets back on his feet.

As soon as crews knocked down the fire at the mobile home park, another one popped up a mile away at a pallet yard.

"It got to the point where the live wires were also burning -- a very dangerous situation for the firefighters or anybody that was in the area," said Ceres Fire Battalion Chief Richard Scola.

Scola says fire crews faced major challenges with the second fire. He says crews had to back off for almost an hour Saturday night as they waited for power to be shut off.

"As more and more propane tanks exploded it made the fire spread very quickly and obviously left the property into three adjacent properties," Scola added.

The fire destroyed the pallet yard and damaged a warehouse, a tire facility and a tow yard. Thirty businesses in the area were also left without power until 1 p.m. Sunday.

Fire crews kept an eye on the pallet yard Sunday, and knocked down hot spots.

The two fires may not be a coincidence, according to Stanislaus County fire officials.

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