Anaheim : Smoking in Bed Starts Fire at Apartment Units

Careless smoking in bed was blamed for an apartment complex fire early Wednesday that forced the evacuation of more than 30 apartment dwellers and injured the smoker, fire officials said.

Robert Craft suffered second-degree burns to his hands after a fire started in his apartment in the 400 block of North Armando Street about 12:16 a.m., Fire Department spokeswoman Jill Skinner said.

The blaze gutted Craft’s apartment and spread to a unit next door before it was brought under control 13 minutes later by 25 firefighters, Skinner said.

Fire Department Battalion Chief Tom Vandiver said Craft, described as in his early 20s, had fallen asleep in bed with a lighted cigarette, which ignited the bedclothes around him and quickly spread to the draperies and throughout the upstairs apartment.

Craft and a roommate escaped, as did residents of the adjacent apartment, Vandiver said.

Because of the potential for a quick spread of the flames throughout the 26-building complex, Vandiver said Anaheim police circling in a helicopter began ordering an evacuation of the burning structure and the three nearest buildings even before firefighters arrived. He estimated that residents in 30 to 40 units were evacuated until the flames were extinguished.

Craft was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he was treated in the hospital’s burn center and later released. There were no other injuries caused by the fire, Vandiver said.

Damage was estimated at $40,000 to the apartments and $10,000 to their contents, Skinner said.