The Davis Police Department has joined the probe of Monday’s fire at an F Street apartment complex that left two young adults hospitalized with burn injuries.
“We’re assisting (the Fire Department) in this incident. Obviously, two people were injured, and the fire was pretty severe,” Lt. Paul Doroshov said this morning. But he noted that it’s too soon to say whether the first-alarm blaze at the Parkside Apartments, 1508 F St., was the result of any criminal activity.
“We’re still exploring the cause of it,” Doroshov said.
In addition to the injuries, fire officials say the apartment building sustained an estimated $500,000 in damage as a result of the fire, which broke out at about 4 a.m. Monday. It sent 20-foot flames into the air and scorched a total of four units before firefighters were able to bring it under control about 40 minutes later, said Paul Swanson, division chief for the Davis Fire Department.
Swanson said the fire began in a second-floor apartment in the four-unit building, “but it spread to the one below and the one next to it, so there is heavy damage to all three of those.” A fourth apartment in the building sustained smoke damage, he added.
Only one of the four apartments was occupied at the time, and the residents of the unit where the fire originated — a 23-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman — were taken to area hospitals, Swanson said. The man went to the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, while the woman was taken to Sutter Davis Hospital.
The woman was treated for minor injuries and released, and the man remained hospitalized as of this morning with injuries that Doroshov described as “serious,” though he did not elaborate.
Swanson said arriving firefighters found the blaze difficult to access after flames burned through one power line and part of another, sending one arcing line to the ground as the first engine company arrived on scene. A PG&E crew was called out to repair the lines.
Meanwhile, fire officials say discarded smoking materials on a first-floor patio caused a fire that heavily damaged a South Davis apartment complex last Thursday. The incident has been ruled accidental, Swanson said today.
Flames and smoke caused about a half-million dollars in damage to four units at the Renaissance Park Apartments, 3000 Lillard Dr. The 10:30 p.m. blaze displaced the apartments’ residents, and a Davis fire captain was injured after he fell from a second-floor balcony.
Department officials said the captain, whose name was not released, fell head-first when the balcony railing gave way, but was able to avoid serious injuries when he struck a fence, which caused him to flip and avoid landing on his head. Some bushes further broke his fall before he landed on his back.
The captain was transported to the UC Davis Medical Center for treatment and was released Friday morning, officials said.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene
