Construction on a bathtub is the cause of a small fire at a Petaluma retirement home last Wednesday. Petaluma Fire Investigators say that a contractor was using a grinding tool to install steps on a metal bathtub at Valley Orchards Retirement Community when sparks flew into a void between apartments. A fire took root in the insulation and ran up the wall and into the attic. However, the slow moving nature of the fire didn’t trigger the sprinklers until a few hours later. About $15,000 in damages were caused and one firefighter suffered a minor injury after a waterlogged ceiling in one of the units fell on him. He was treated on scene.
