SAN BERNARDINO — Three families were displaced, one firefighter was injured and a house pet was killed during an apartment fire Saturday afternoon.
San Bernardino firefighters responded at 12:25 p.m. to an apartment complex at 1277 E. Lynwood Drive, according to fire dispatch.
“There was heavy smoke and flame coming from an upstairs apartment,” said fire Battalion Chief Paul Drasil.
Thirty firefighters had the fire under control within 15 minutes. By 1:25 p.m. the fire was completely extinguished, Drasil said.
The cause was under investigation. The Fire Department did not have an immediate damage estimate.
Veronica Krolop, her boyfriend and their two young children were one of the three families displaced during by the blaze.
Having lived in their downstairs apartment a mere two months, they were just barely settled into their new surroundings when the fire disrupted their lives.
Krolop and her mother, Norma Krolop, were busy around 3:30 p.m. gathering the family’s belongings from the smoke- and water-damaged apartment.
Norma Krolop arrived to help her daughter’s family pack and move temporarily into her apartment.
Veronica Krolop said she was sitting outside of the apartment when she heard a smoke alarm go off in one of the upstairs units. At first, she wasn’t concerned, she said, “because periodically that happens.”
She thought food on the stove may have set off the alarm, she explained.
A few minutes later, she saw heavy smoke pouring out of the upstairs window.
None of the residents was hurt, but one firefighter suffered minor burns on his knees and hands, Drasil said. He was treated at a hospital and released.
Norma Krolop said the manager is working on relocating the displaced families to some vacant apartments in the complex.
Story by Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
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