2 Firefighters Burned in Apartment Blaze

Flames engulfed a second-story apartment in Oxnard on Saturday afternoon, causing about 20 people to flee the complex, leaving one family homeless and injuring two firefighters.

Oxnard firefighter Michael O’Leary received second-degree burns on the right side of his face while fighting the blaze as it tore through the building’s roof shortly past noon. Firefighter Doug Campbell was burned on the knee.

Both men were treated at St. John’s Regional Medical Center and released.

No one else was injured in the fire, which destroyed one apartment unit in a complex in the 1800 block of South Victoria Street and damaged an adjacent walkway.

“I’ve lost everything,” said Supantira Peery, an Oxnard restaurant worker who lived in the apartment with her mother and nephew. “I have no clothes. I am in shock.”

Structural damage was estimated at $75,000.

No one was in the apartment when the fire started in a bedroom, but the family dog had to be rescued from a balcony by onlookers.

Four residents in the unit opposite the blaze had to be rescued from their balcony after finding their front door blocked by flames spilling from their neighbor’s door.