Update: Blaze Burns Home in Orinda Hills

Updated, 5:45 p.m. Monday, link to Mirador story,
4:00 p.m. Monday, press release from MOFD.

An Orinda house fire at dawn Sunday proved to be persistent for Moraga Orinda Fire District firefighters.

No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation, according to a Monday MOFD press release.

The blaze was reported at 6:36 a.m. When firefighters arrived, they found the two-story, single-family home heavily involved. "Firefighters took defensive actions to protect neighboring homes from becoming involved in fire," the press release stated. "The fire was quickly contained to the building of origin but required several hours to extinguish due to the home's construction features."

The fire rekindled as fire crews were mopping up and it took hours to root out embers burning inside the walls at the residence on El Gavilan Road in the highlands of Orinda, ABC7 News reported.

At the time of the fire — at the end of a long holiday weekend — family friends were staying at the house while homeowners were away.

Twenty-eight personnel from MOFD and Contra Costa Fire Protection District responded to the scene.

The fear of fire spreading was captured well by a student journalist. Read this version by Liz Berndt, who lives next door to the house that burned and writes for The Mirador at Miramonte High School.

This dramatic photo was taken by Patch reader Eric Smith, who woke early intending to take a picture of the sunrise and was confronted by the pillar of smoke. Thanks, Eric.