Yule Tree Blaze Leaves 3 Families Homeless
A blaze started by a Christmas tree gutted part of a Lancaster apartment complex and left two firefighters injured and at least three families homeless Monday, county fire officials said.
Firefighters saw smoke from the four-unit apartment building on the 45500 block of Cedar Avenue while responding to reports of a house fire on the 44800 block of Spearman Avenue, about a mile away, at 11:45 a.m.
The two upstairs units of the apartment building were gutted, with damage estimated at $100,000. The house fire, which fire officials said started in a mattress, caused $10,000 damage.
Vicki Townsley, 21, and five children, some hers and some a roommate’s, escaped uninjured from the apartment where the fire began. The roommate was not home at the time.
The flames spread to the adjoining apartment, where three adults lived.
The causes of the two blazes were under investigation.
One firefighter was treated for smoke inhalation at the apartment complex. A retired county fire captain who was helping fight the blaze collapsed from a possible heart attack and was taken to Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center in Lancaster, officials said.
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