Update: Fire burns at two-story apartment building
Firefighters on the roof of an apartment building on Stoney Creek Road. Photo by Nathan Dawes.
Good Samaritans help save residents
Paso Robles Fire Department issued this update Feb. 7:
At approximately 2:22 p.m., Paso Robles Department of Emergency Services was dispatched to an apartment fire at 1279 Stoney Creek.
The first fire engine reached the scene within approximately eight minutes. This initial fire crew reported heavy fire and smoke in the attic space of a building containing eight apartments.
The fire’s cause was improperly discarded smoking materials. The exterior siding of the outside balcony was ignited, fire traveled up the wall and into the eaves, and eventually spread throughout the attic space. The female occupant and her child were unaware of the fire, until three good Samaritans forced entry to evacuate the apartment.
Roof damage was substantial and significantly impacted two of the upstairs apartments. None of the eight units was immediately habitable due to utility safety concerns. The Red Cross dispatched a Disaster Action Team to provide assistance to those displaced by the fire.
Under the city’s automatic aid agreement, an engine from CDF/SLO County Fire and a ladder truck from Atascadero immediately responded. Additional assistance had to be summoned. In total, three Paso Robles, three County fire, two Templeton, and an Atascadero unit responded. twenty firefighters were need to quickly bring the blaze under control. Additional assistance was provided by Paso Robles Police Department, San Luis Ambulance Service, and the American Red Cross.
No injuries were reported. No monetary damage assessment is available at this time.
Photo by Paco Guzman
Original report Feb. 6:
Fire breaks out at Dry Creek Apartments
Smoke was seen rising Saturday afternoon from the corner of Creston and Stoney Creek roads where a fire was burning on the second story of an apartment building. An eyewitness reports the fire broke out at about 2:15 p.m. in Dry Creek Apartments.
Before firefighters were on scene, a man nearby saw the smoke and ran to the apartment building to help.
“I saw the smoke from the street as I was jogging,” says Greg Cryns. “I jumped the fence and ran up the stairs and kicked the door in after knocking a couple times with no answer. I found a two or three-year-old inside on the couch. The mom had just come from the back room, unaware that their apartment was on fire.
“Another gentleman joined in to help see if everyone was evacuated, we proceeded to go to the apartment next door which was also on fire. We kicked that door in and searched all the rooms but nobody was in there luckily.
“I grabbed a five gallon jug of water and ran back in the other apartment and started to douse all the flames that were engulfing the outside of the apartment on the second story. I went back and grabbed another five gallon jug and did it again to extinguish all the flames on the outside of the building.
“But the roof was still on fire. So I ran around and grab the fire extinguisher and climb the balcony to the second story where I used the fire extinguisher to extinguish all the flames I could possibly. That’s when the fire department showed up.”
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