Arson Appears Likely in Anaheim Apartment Fire : Crime: Investigators say a flammable liquid was poured in the hallway, then lit. No units were burned and no one was hurt.

An arsonist poured a flammable liquid along the hallway of an apartment complex early Tuesday and then ignited it in what apparently was an attempt to target a tenant, fire investigators said.

The fire raced down a third-floor hallway of the Oakwood Apartments, 2295 W. Broadway, and burned for about 20 minutes. But the 20 firefighters called to the scene shortly before 3:30 a.m. were able to extinguish the blaze before it entered any of the apartment units.

No injuries were reported.

“This could have been very tragic,” said Anaheim Fire Department Investigator Ray McLaughlin. “An apartment building on fire at 3 a.m. when people are in bed. Whoever did this knew they were doing something very dangerous.”

McLaughlin said a preliminary examination indicates the fire was deliberately set.

“It appears that someone at the end of the hall was the target,” he said. “We don’t know if they have received past death threats or if they have been threatened, but we are investigating some leads.”

McLaughlin said it appears that someone poured a flammable liquid, probably gasoline, in front of the door of one of the units, then continued pouring it down the hallway before igniting the trail.

Sleeping residents said they were awakened by either their fire alarms, other tenants or security staff. Some managed to run to safety, while others were trapped inside their units.

Some tenants were still reeling from shock and fear hours after the blaze.

“When we opened the door, we saw fire,” said 27-year-old Oskoo Woo, who is eight months pregnant. “I cried.”

Woo and her 29-year-old husband, Wonjoo Woo, live near the end of the hallway where flames had not yet reached. They were able to escape through a side entrance of the building.

“There was not much time to think,” said Wonjoo Woo. “It all happened in just minutes.”

Tenant Fred Weiss, 68, was one of the first to spot the fire. He had just fallen asleep when he heard the smoke alarm go off in his unit.

“Those things go off all the time, but I knew that it couldn’t be someone cooking at that hour,” said Weiss, who opened his door and saw smoke and flames “starting to crawl up the wall.”

Weiss tried in vain to douse the flames by dumping glasses of water on them.

“I didn’t have any buckets or anything so that’s all I could think of to do,” he said. “Then, I saw security and yelled for help. They told me to go back inside of my apartment and open the window and that’s exactly what I did.”

By the time firefighters arrived, flames were shooting out of the front entrance of the building. But remarkably, none of the 12 apartment units on the third floor were damaged.

Still, the hallway was charred, as were an elevator and carpeting. Damage from the blaze was estimated at about $100,000, McLaughlin said.

“Fortunately, everyone had their doors closed and the hallway acted as a chimney,” said McLaughlin, who added that the doors of the apartment units were designed to resist flames for about an hour.

Residents on the third floor were relocated to other apartments in the 768-unit corporate housing complex, where they will remain until crews can make repairs, said Jeff Robinson, manager of the complex.

McLaughlin said that so far no one has reported seeing anyone flee from the scene.

“We don’t have a motive at this point, but our investigation is continuing,” he said. “We are pursuing this case very aggressively. It was an extremely dangerous fire that had a lot of potential for loss of life.”