Fire Sweeps Through Ventura Condo Community

Three people were injured and up to 20 residents displaced Thursday when a massive, wind-whipped roof fire swept through a midtown condo community.

Dozens of firefighters from Ventura, Oxnard and the Ventura County Fire Department fought the blaze that affected four buildings--each containing four condominium units--in the Villa Ventura community on tree-lined Shenandoah Street near the city’s drive-in movie theater.

It took nearly two hours to contain the fire that began at 3:36 p.m.

Fourteen adults and children who were at home in various units when the fire started were evacuated. As flames raced across rooftops, residents ran back inside their homes to save pets and grab armfuls of personal belongings.

The cause of the fire is under investigation and the dollar loss was being tallied late Thursday night, Ventura fire spokesman Henry Wonsey said.

Smoke and flames were first spotted on a second-story wood shake roof that covered three connected condos at 4994, 4996 and 4998 Shenandoah, Wonsey said. Within minutes, flames reached a first-story roof in the same building, as well as an adjacent four-unit complex.

Damage to those two buildings was major, Wonsey said. Minor roof and water damage occurred at a third, four-unit building at 5022 Shenandoah, and a fourth fourplex at 5040 Shenandoah St. was exposed to smoke and water.

“Winds just started picking up and this fire spread quick,” he said.

Ventura Fire Chief Dennis Downs said winds fanned embers and forced the fire to be upgraded from a first-alarm blaze to the highest level, a four-alarm fire. The upgrade more than tripled the manpower at the scene.

“The problem was the amount of resources we had initially,” Downs said.

Grace Boyer clutched her purse to her chest and watched as the roof of the condo she rented burned. Most of the family heirlooms filling her home were damaged by water and smoke.

“This just makes me sick. Everything I own is in there,” she said.

Red Cross employees, crisis counselors and representatives from the city’s Disaster Assistance Team were called in to provide residents with food and shelter options. Individuals and families who lived in eight units most seriously damaged were displaced.

The Red Cross estimated that it helped 50 people and that relief efforts have cost $10,000 so far.

One of the injured, Jan Elder, praised an unidentified city policeman who arrived on scene early and helped her rescue two cats and a bird that live in the house with her, her sister and brother-in-law.

“If it wasn’t for him it would be a different story. He saved a cat’s life,’ she said.

Elder suffered a deep cut on her hand when one of her cats bit her during the rescue. Also injured were two city firefighters. One had a second-degree burn on his wrist and the other suffered from burning debris that landed in his eye.

The injured were treated at the scene. A friend of Elder’s was expected to take her to a local hospital for follow-up care, Wonsey said.

Resident Debbie Talmage had her young son, Brian, wait inside a car as she ran into their condo unit with a neighbor and collected Brian’s pet snakes, her jewelry box, trophies and several framed family photos.

A mother and daughter who drove upon the scene in a black Chevrolet Lumina emerged from their car to see the roof of their home in flames. Because it was too late to gather any possessions, both sobbed for several minutes before driving off.

The fire forced the closure of several surrounding streets and drew the attention of more than 100 neighbors who came outside to watch. Some bystanders helped displaced residents carry belongings while others stood on their lawns and filmed the action with video cameras.