San Bernardino County units from Yucca Valley, Yucca Mesa and Joshua Tree, assisted by Cal Fire Yucca Valley and the Morongo Valley Fire Department, responded at 1:09 p.m. to the 6900 block of Mohawk Trail, where they learned that victims might be trapped in a two-story apartment complex.
On arrival, the crew from Yucca Valley Medic Engine 41 reported flame and smoke were showing from the first and second floors of the complex. They began fire control and rescue operations.
A woman in a wheelchair was found inside her apartment and was helped out of the burning building by county firefighters and sheriff’s deputies.
The woman told firefighters she was sleeping in bed and woke up to find the “whole side of the window on fire.” She got up and alerted two other residents, including her 4-year-old grandson, of the fire, Battalion Chief Dan Munsey reported.
With help from a friend, the woman initially tried to extinguish the fire by pouring water from pots and pans on the flames. “Quickly they realized the extent of the fire and exited the structure,” Munsey said.
Five engines and one truck were needed to control the fire, which completely destroyed two apartment units and caused minor damage to two others.
Shirley Peters, representing the local American Red Cross chapter, was called to the scene and provided immediate shelter, food and clothing for seven affected people in the apartment complex.
No one was hurt in the fire, which was caused by a faulty electrical outlet in an apartment’s back bedroom.
Dale Adams was visiting his mother at the apartment complex at the time of the fire. Adams tried to fight the blaze and helped evacuate people in the four-plex apartment complex of the fire.
“I smelled something like plastic, like a chemical smell,” Adams said by phone Monday afternoon. “The next building down had smoke coming out the window.
“I went running out the front. We could see fire up to the window sill,” Adams continued.
He went to the front door and found a woman and her grandson on the porch; they told him her cat was inside.
“Smoke was rolling out the front door pretty thick,” Adams said. “She took off running back into the apartment. The little boy followed her. The place was already so full of smoke you couldn’t get a breath of air.
“I went in and drug the boy back outside and told him to go to the parking lot. I found the occupant near where the fire was, on her hands and knees calling for the cat. I grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to the front door.”
The cat did not survive.
After ensuring there were no other people in the apartment, Adams returned to size up the situation.
“It was so thick with smoke I couldn’t breathe, so I had to come back out and get a breath of fresh air. My mom was there with the fire extinguisher so I went in with it, then came back out for more air. I made it to the bedroom, pointed it blindly at the orange glow and pulled it for about five seconds.
Adams saw the fire crawling across the ceiling, “Like in a movie or something. It was really trippy. When I saw the flames above my head I decided it was time to pull out of there.”
BE19 was put on the ticket as part of the second alarm. By the time we got there from Landers most of the action was over. I did manage to get a few shots....
More photos can be seen here in the gallery section of FireWXPhoto.com.
Photo by EPN-564
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