Anaheim Tenants Flee Blaze Blamed on Illegal Fireworks

Forty Orange County families were left homeless Thursday as a large Anaheim apartment complex sustained about $2.2 million in damage in a pre-dawn blaze that Anaheim officials blamed on illegal fireworks.

Two people, a tenant and a firefighter, suffered minor injuries and were treated at the scene, said Sheri Erlewine, an Anaheim fire and police spokeswoman.

But officials said the toll could have been much worse. “This fire could have very, very easily resulted in fatalities,” Erlewine said.

Many tenants said that, just before the blaze erupted, they heard loud bangs and popping noises that they believed were fireworks being set off by a group of young men sitting near or on cars in front of the complex.

In all, about 250 tenants were evacuated and sent to a nearby Red Cross shelter set up at Sunkist Elementary School. The blaze broke out about 3 a.m., and was brought under control by 6:10 a.m. More than 100 firefighters from the Anaheim and Orange County departments fought the blaze.

As flames soared 25 to 30 feet, sleepy tenants fled to safety. Some got out with only the clothes on their back.

Tim Underwood, 20, recalled that the flames swept through the building rapidly.

“A neighbor knocked on my door and I opened it to look outside and the only thing I saw was flames,” Underwood said.

Officials said fireworks ignited the building’s wood-shake roof. The blaze came only a day after the apartment manager had distributed a flyer warning tenants of “immediate eviction” if any were caught jeopardizing the safety of others by using fireworks.

More than four unexploded skyrockets were found by fire investigators in front of the Casa de Valencia Apartments, 2633 E. La Palma Ave. In addition, remnants of illegal “bottle” rockets were found scattered in a front garden area where pieces from exploded “safe and sane” fireworks that had been altered were also found, Erlewine said.

Firefighters on the scene said the apartment building’s “common attic”--meaning that it did not have partitions or fire walls--allowed the flames to sweep through the building unimpeded. But they said there were no apparent building code violations in the complex.

Officials also said that when firefighters arrived, there was a “problem” with low water pressure for a “few minutes.” One official said the pressure problem was under investigation.

Tenant Karen Potter, 19, who lived with her sister in an apartment that has bedroom windows that face La Palma, said she was awakened by noises and discovered that someone had tossed an ignited firecracker through her bedroom window.

‘Exploded Inside’

“We had no screens and it came inside my window and exploded inside,” said Potter, who was visibly shaken.

Potter said she looked out the window and noticed a black car with three men standing nearby who were using fireworks.

Based on interviews with tenants, fire investigators said the three were part of a larger group of revelers who are being sought for questioning. It was not immediately known whether any were apartment tenants.

Tenants praised a fast-acting clerk at a convenience store across the street for calling the Fire Department and then knocking on tenants’ doors to warn them of the blaze. The clerk was later identified as Jaime Elizondo, 27.

In 1982, after one of the worst fires in Southern California history destroyed 53 buildings and caused an estimated $50 million in damage, the Anaheim City Council passed an emergency ordinance banning untreated wood, or shake-shingle roofs on new construction. But the ordinance was not made retroactive, and thus did not apply to the Casa de Valencia.