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Firefighters quickly put out a three-alarm apartment fire on Escuela Avenue on Friday afternoon, and Red Cross volunteers housed displaced residents that night in the local Senior Center.
Mountain View firefighters rushed to the fire on the third story of 333 Escuela Ave., a 142-unit, three-story apartment building, at around 2:30 p.m., spokesman Lynn Brown said. They were joined by firefighters from Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, the county and NASA-Ames, but the heavy flames were out by 2:45 p.m., Brown said.
Although he did not know exactly how many people were displaced, Brown said the one apartment is uninhabitable and that “There is probably smoke and water damages to other units.” No injuries were reported.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, however the Red Cross reports that “a woman living in the apartment where the fire started said she had been in the shower at the time when she heard the smoke alarm sound. Upon investigating, she saw the flames and fled to safety only lightly clothed. Her husband was at work in San Bruno at the time.”
As firefighters worked the fire Friday afternoon, dozens of residents waited in a small park across the street. Police blocked off the street around the building, and neighbors stood on nearby lawns to watch the activity.
By 4 p.m., firefighters started to allow some residents to reenter their homes. The Red Cross reports that of the 25 families living in the building, only two needed the organization’s help in finding shelter that night. By Saturday night, the displaced residents had made other living arrangements.
