An afternoon barbecue ignited a fire that spread to an out building and threatened several homes in a Turlock neighborhood Tuesday, the Turlock Fire Department reported.

The fire was reported at 12:05 p.m. Tuesday in the 1800 block of Wyndfair Drive, by multiple 911 calls. In at least one of the calls, a person reported that an individual may have been trapped inside the burning building, according to the fire department.

“You could see the black column of smoke and smell the odor of burning wood blocks away,” said Turlock Fire Chief Robert Talloni.

The first firefighters to arrive found an outbuilding in the backyard completely engulfed in flames and threatening the primary residence, as well as several surrounding homes.

Using some aggressive fire fighting techniques the firefighters were able to keep the fire from spreading to any other structures in the area.

“City firefighters took a charged hose line between the exposure house and the burning structure. Their aggressive actions saved the house and neighboring properties,” Talloni said.

There were no reported injuries to civilians or firefighters.

The cause of the fire was traced back to a barbecue that was being used up against the outbuilding.

The fire department responded to the fire with three engines and a total of 15 personnel. Ceres Fire Department also responded to the incident with an Engine as part of a resource sharing agreement.