By Kim Yancey
The Merced Sun-Star
Copyright 2007 The Merced Sun-Star
All Rights Reserved
LOS BANOS, Calif. — An early morning fire in an Illinois Avenue fourplex on Monday forced the evacuation of three families.
Los Banos Fire Chief Chet Guintini said the 4:28 a.m. fire started in the kitchen of one of the apartment units and quickly spread.
“When we got on scene, the kitchen, dining room and living room were fully involved and flames were coming out of the windows,” he said.
Guintini said the occupants of the burning apartment as well as the tenants of two other units already were out of the building when firefighters arrived. The fourth apartment was unoccupied at the time.
The intensity of the fire triggered a second alarm, bringing three engines, a ladder truck and 24 firefighters to the scene.
Guintini said the blaze was brought under control about 4:55 a.m. Firefighters left the scene about 7:30 a.m.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but Guintini said it appears to have been accidental.
The apartment sustained about $30,000-$40,000 damage and about $10,000-$15,000 of personal property was lost, Guintini said. There was minor water and smoke damage to the other units in the fourplex.
Guintini said the owner of the apartments has arranged for the displaced families to move into other nearby dwellings until repairs can be made to the damaged units.
No one was injured in the incident, he said.