By Deepa Ranganathan
Sacramento Bee (California)
Five people, including three firefighters, were hurt Saturday morning in a three-alarm fire that destroyed the top floor of a downtown apartment building, officials said.
Firefighters were summoned to a three-story Victorian house near the intersection of Eighth and F streets about 4 a.m. A fire was raging in the rear of the wooden building on all three floors, said Jim Doucette, Sacramento Fire Department captain. Firefighters rescued two men trapped in the third-floor apartment, Doucette said. Both were hospitalized at UC Davis Medical Center for smoke inhalation, and one had critical injuries, he said.
Fire Capt. Dexter Ching, who aided in the rescue, suffered severe burns on his back when the roof collapsed, Doucette said. He was recovering at UC Davis Medical Center.
“He’s fine, he’s up talking,” Doucette said. “He’s just going to have to spend a few days in the hospital.”
The two other injured firefighters were not hospitalized.
The building appeared to be undergoing renovations, and no one was living on the first or second floors, Doucette said.
Fire officials were investigating the blaze Saturday and had not determined the cause. Doucette said he did not know the names or ages of the men who were rescued.