50 Calif. residents displaced by french fry flames

By Lisa Fernandez
The San Jose Mercury News

CUPERTINO, Calif. — Out of 50 residents that were displaced Saturday night from an apartment fire sparked by unattended greasy french fries, eight ended up sleeping over at a high school gym in Cupertino, according to the American Red Cross.

Red Cross spokeswoman Sharon Tong said Sunday morning that of the 19 people who had checked in Saturday night at Homestead High School, eleven were able to find refuge with family or friends.

Just before 6 p.m. on Saturday, a three-alarm blaze ripped through the Village Green Apartments complex on Homestead Road, destroying eight units and damaging eight others, Jeremy Davis, an arson investigator with the Santa Clara County Fire Department.

The fire was started, Davis said, when a woman forgot she had been cooking french fries on the stove. Almost 100 firefighters battled the blaze, which Davis said was under control by 7:50 p.m. No one was injured.

"It was completely accidental," Davis said. "She's feeling pretty upset. She feels bad for everyone involved. She lost everything she had."

A resident who was displaced, Randle Hall, said he attended a Sunday meeting with apartment managers, who were trying to find a way to move at least some of the displaced residents into other units. Hall had stayed the night in the high school gym, and wasn't sure what his next steps were.

Davis wanted to remind everyone that especially with the holidays, people should slow down and pay attention to fire hazards in the kitchen. "If you're cooking," he said, "stay there until you're done."

Copyright 2011 San Jose Mercury News

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