Apartment Fire Displaces Twelve People in San Bernardino

At 1:33 P.M. on September 29, 2008 fire dispatchers received a call from an alarm company reporting a fire pull station had been activated at a multi-unit apartment complex located on the corner of 13th Street and Acacia in the City of San Bernardino. The first fire unit was on scene at 1:38 P.M. and reported to incoming units there was heavy fire blowing out of a second story window. Firefighters quickly deployed hose lines to the second floor to extinguish the fire while simultaneously going door to door through the complex to ensure all occupants were out of harms way.

Due to the amount of fire involvement a second alarm was called to assist in the suppression of the fire and the evacuation. The fire was under control with in thirty minutes of the first call. A 20-year-old male who was an occupant of the complex was transported to a local area hospital with minor smoke inhalation he sustained while he was self-evacuating.

City fire investigators were called to the scene to conduct a through investigation as to what started this blaze. After interviewing the occupants of the involved apartment it was determined that two small children playing with a lighter under a bed started the fire.

Property Loss/Damage:    $ 125,000.00
Contents Loss:         $ 50,000.00
Property Saved:        $ 750,000.00

**The fire department would like to remind parents and child care givers that lighters and matches should be kept out of reach of children at all times and when using such devices around children they should be educated on the potential hazards these devices can cause.

Written and submitted by Steve Tracy, PIO-San Bernardino City Fire