Acacia fire displaces 20 residents of four-bedroom apartment unit

By Peggy Kelly Santa Paula Times An apartment fire Saturday night displaced 20 people and injured one man said he fell asleep while smoking in bed, but the cause of the blaze is being investigated.

According to Santa Paula Fire Chief Rick Araiza, units from Stations 81 and 82, “Did a terrific job making sure the building was cleared and knocking down the fire,” even though the configuration of the entrance door and staircase was a challenge for firefighters and a second door, the one leading to the bedroom where the fire started, was barricaded from the inside.

The resident escaped through the second-story window and received minor injuries.

Araiza said multiple callers notified 911 at 7:09 p.m. that a two-story building located in the 500 block of Acacia Road, near Wisteria Lane, was on fire; an ambulance was also requested.

When firefighters arrived on scene at least 30 people were outside the building, which had heavy smoke coming from the second story, a portion of which was well involved in flames.

“People were screaming they thought someone was in there so firefighters went in and checked and thankfully the unit was empty,” said Araiza.

When it came to the firefight, “Our men initially hit it through the window,” because the door to the bedroom had been barricaded. 

Ventura County Fire also responded to the scene, but the fire was declared knocked down by SPFD personnel in a matter of minutes at 7:25 p.m.

“It was a really good stop,” said Araiza. “They did a really good job saving the whole apartment, the downstairs was in really good shape and upstairs the damage was mostly confined to the bedroom itself and smoke damage,” on the second floor.

Araiza estimated damage at under $60,000 as “The drywall held up and fire didn’t get into the attic, smoke damage didn’t spread to the other apartment... but there was only one smoke detector in the entire house and it didn’t work. We red-tagged,” the apartment due to the damage.