Couple escapes early-morning fire that swept through their iconic domed house in Cambria
A couple and their three dogs are safe after an Oct. 20 fire raced through their ocean-view Cambria home with its iconic double geodesic domes.
“At least we’re alive. We are alive, and so are our dogs. The hell with the rest of it,” displaced homeowner Marissa Powels said.
For that, “I’m really grateful. Really grateful,” she said. “That’s all I’m feeling right now. The rest hasn’t hit me yet.”
Powels said she awoke about 4:30 or 5 a.m. Oct. 20 to husband Leland Powels screaming her name from the back dome area upstairs, telling her, “Something’s on fire!! Call 911!”
In those first few seconds after being dragged from sleep, her first instinct had been to reach for a fire extinguisher, Marissa Powels said. But as soon as she was fully awake, survival instinct and training kicked in, and she knew they had to get out of the house, quickly.
Powels ran upstairs to help her husband with the dogs.
“The smoke was so thick. You couldn’t breathe,” she said.
Border collies Tyco and Luna and poodle Sister are now at the home of Marissa Powels’ mom, Irena Mendenhall, who also lives in Cambria.
Marisa and Leland Powels and their three dogs escaped unharmed, she said, although Leland Powels had been upstairs in dense smoke and was having some problems breathing.
Ambulance personnel were at the scene on Sherwood Drive in the tony Marine Terrace neighborhood, as were multiple fire engines from Cambria Fire, Cal Fire, Morro Bay Fire, Cayucos Fire and other agencies, which were dispatched soon after 5 a.m. A sheriff’s deputy was also on hand.
The house likely will be red-tagged, incident commander Michael Burkey, acting fire chief for Cambria Fire Department, said at about 7:45 a.m., as firefighters were still cleaning up from their battle with the blaze that, at one point, entered and damaged the upper level of the home next door.
A neighbor who declined to be identified said at the scene that her frantically barking dog woke her and husband , and that all the other dogs in the neighborhood seemed to be high-alert barking, too.
The Poweles’ home is iconic because of its unusual double-dome structure that, when the home was built in 1984, immediately sparked the somewhat irreverent nickname “the Dolly Parton House.”
The domes are still there, but because of severe damage, they likely will have to be removed and rebuilt, Burkey said. The extent of damage to the lower floor was still being assessed.
He said it was too early in the investigation to determine the cause or estimate the cost of the damage to the two homes.
The couple’s vehicles — a sports car, a motorcycle and a Segway — have been moved across the street to a neighbor’s driveway.
Leland Powels collects antique cars and other vehicles, which were stored elsewhere.
As the battle against the blaze wound down, firefighters were able to retrieve some valuables from the badly damaged structure — including a singed but safe coin collection, which they returned to Leland and Marissa Powels.
Meanwhile, neighbors gathered to offer hugs, condolences and more.
“I’m so glad we live in Cambria,” Marissa Powels said. “I’m so, so grateful.”
This story was originally published October 20, 2022 at 9:23 AM.
