Roof Blaze Damages 7 Tustin Apartments : Fire: Forty tenants are evacuated early Saturday. A patrolman who called firefighters and then banged on doors to alert residents is called a hero.

A two-alarm electrical fire that began in an unoccupied apartment early Saturday forced the evacuation of more than 40 people and caused about $180,000 in damage to seven apartments, officials said.

At least five families were housed at a local motel by the American Red Cross after the fire. Two apartments were seriously damaged and the roofs of five more were burned.

Two firefighters suffered minor injuries in the blaze. One sprained an ankle, while the other sprained a wrist. Both were treated and released Saturday at a local hospital.

“Our people did a very good job,” said Orange County Fire Department spokeswoman Kathleen Cha. “This is one of those (fires) where they made a tremendous save.”

Tustin Police Officer Jeff Frei, on patrol in the area, first saw smoke above the 17-unit apartment complex at 1082 East Main St. about 2:40 a.m. After alerting the Fire Department, Frei immediately began evacuating two buildings at the complex that are connected by a breezeway, banging on doors to awaken residents. The two affected buildings are part of the 80-unit apartment complex Las Campanas. On Saturday, wood chips and ash floated in the swimming pool in front of the burned building.

“He’s a hero,” Barry McKinnon, the assistant manager of the complex, said of the officer as he stood outside watching fire investigators search through the charred building Saturday. “He was on top of it. He saved a lot of lives.”

The fire began inside a wall in Apt. 27 because of an electrical wiring problem, then quickly spread across part of the structure’s shake-shingle roof before firefighters were able to bring it under control, officials said.

“It was a nice teamwork effort,” Cha said. “The police were there, they were able to get the (people) out, and we were able to fight the fire and fight it hard.”

A gaping black hole in the roof was evidence of the quick-moving flames. Underneath, in one of the apartments, a couch, lamp and pile of clothing sat untouched.

Despite the severity of the fire, only the contents of one apartment were damaged.

“Every single thing (of mine) was saved. . . . I couldn’t believe it,” said Rick Tirabasso, 34, a graphic artist who lives next door to the apartment where the fire began.

Startled out of bed by officials pounding on the door, Tirabasso grabbed his portfolio and the engagement ring he was planning on presenting his girlfriend Saturday night, woke up his son, niece and a friend who was staying over, and bolted from the apartment. “It’s amazing how everyone pulled together,” he said of the residents and the emergency personnel.

Forty firefighters fought the blaze. Investigators estimated damage at $150,000 to the structure and $30,000 lost in contents at Apt. 27. McKinnon said it would take about four to six months to repair the damaged units.

Electricity is out in the two buildings until Monday.