Residents of Downtown Apartments Flee Fire : Deliberately Set: A woman reportedly suffering from depression allegedly started the fire in the building.

Four residents of a downtown apartment building, with many senior citizen occupants, suffered smoke inhalation Sunday afternoon from a fire set by a depressed woman who threw burning matches on her bed, fire department officials said.

The woman, who authorities said suffered from a severe speech impediment, then dialed 911 from a hallway telephone at the Arlington Apartment-Hotel in a failed attempt to explain what she had done. Dispatchers could not understand the woman, but the building manager called moments later with the location of the fire, officials said.

Patricia McFadden, 42, was being held Sunday night in County Jail at Las Colinas in Santee on suspicion of arson. When asked why she started the fire, she reportedly told authorities that it was “that time of the year.”

The two-alarm blaze brought more than 60 firefighters to the three-story building at 7th Avenue and G Street, where rescue workers battled thick smoke to help at least 10 elderly residents climb through first-floor windows to safety.

In all, 80 residents--mostly between 60 and 80 years old--were evacuated within minutes after the fire was first reported at 1:27 p.m. Many elderly residents, some in wheelchairs, needed the help of neighbors to exit fire escapes, said Battalion Chief Victor Smyth.

Goldie Smith, 87, was in good condition late Sunday at UC-San Diego Medical Center. Everett White, 76, was treated at Mercy Hospital and released. Lisa Betz, 22, was treated at Navy Hospital in Balboa Park and released. A fourth, unidentified victim was taken to a local hospital. Several residents were treated for smoke inhalation at the scene, authorities said.

Property manager James Hughes was in his first-floor office when he heard a woman talking loudly at a pay phone in the hall.

“She was screaming at the top of her voice,” he said. “She was stammering, she couldn’t describe what was going on because she has a speech impediment.”

The panicked woman then led Hughes to a nearby door and handed him the key, he said. “I opened the door and tried to look inside but smoke came billowing out. So I quickly closed it shut and called 911.”

Capt. Jeff Carle of the Metro Arson Strike Team said the woman, sitting quietly on a curb across from the apartment building when he arrived, was placed in a nearby patrol car, where she explained how she started the fire.

“Her speech impediment is serious,” he said. “She had to write everything down on paper. Her initial indication was that she was suffering from depression. So she used matches and paper to start the fire on her bed.”

But the fire quickly got out of hand, Carle said. “Right after she set the fire, she realized what she had done and she got scared by it. What happened was not what she expected.”

McFadden’s first-floor apartment was gutted and there was also damage to the hallway. Officials estimated $65,000 in total damage to the aging, white-washed building that residents said once served as a clinic for newborn babies. It took firefighters about 20 minutes to contain the blaze.

“We’re fortunate this happened during the day while everyone was awake,” Chief Smyth said. “There were many factors that could have made this a much more serious fire. The building is old and if she hadn’t shut that door, the fire could have spread more quickly.”

Once outside, many residents wanted to return to the building to help their neighbors, Hughes said. “But they couldn’t,” he said. “You have to see this kind of heavy smoke to understand what it’s like to walk into it. You just can’t breathe in there.”

As firefighters battled the blaze, Leslie Wheeler sat in his wheelchair on a nearby street corner and said he was glad to be alive. He had been listening to the radio in his first-floor apartment when a young neighbor came by his room to help him escape.

“I pass by Mr. Wheeler’s room every day and I know he doesn’t have anyone to help him,” said James Terry. “I went right into his room and said, ‘Get up, there’s a fire in here.’

“I’m lucky he doesn’t ask many questions. Because we got him right into his chair and out of there.”