300 Displaced by Apartment Fire

More than 300 people were forced to flee their homes and one woman had to be rescued from the balcony outside her burning living room Sunday, when a fire erupted at a newly refurbished three-story apartment building, authorities said.

The blaze started about 4:30 p.m. at Shadow Hills Apartments in the 200 block of West Wilbur Drive. Flames shooting from the roof of one building could be seen by drivers on the Ventura Freeway.

“People were panicking because they didn’t know if there were still other people inside apartments. People were crying. Flames were coming from the roof. It was very scary,” said Rocio Gamez, 16, who lives in a second-floor unit with her parents and younger brother.

Residents and authorities said the fire started in the bedroom of a first-floor unit, spread through a window to a second-floor apartment and then burned through to the third floor and roof.

At least three apartments were destroyed and several dozen more were damaged extensively by smoke and water. The fire was contained to one 68-unit building in the complex, which has more than 150 units spread among several buildings. The property is valued at more than $2 million, but officials have not yet estimated damage costs.

“It was extremely hazardous and a very hot fire,” said Sandi Wells, chief information officer for the Ventura County Fire Department. “It was hot enough to burn through three floors and a roof.”

Firefighters rescued a 52-year-old woman who was trapped by flames in her third-floor unit, authorities said. A firefighter on a tall ladder truck helped the woman off her balcony and led her to safety. She was taken to Los Robles Regional Medical Center and treated for smoke inhalation, Wells said. The woman was not immediately identified.

No other serious injuries were reported. Rocio said she returned to a neighbor’s apartment during the blaze to grab a cat and two large cages filled with birds.

A team of three arson investigators was on the scene trying to determine a cause.

Tenant Araceli Carpio told a reporter the fire started in her apartment. Carpio said she and her young son, Abraham, smelled smoke in their first-floor apartment and walked into a bedroom to find a lamp tipped over and both the lamp and a bed engulfed in flames.

Wells could not confirm that report but said authorities traced the blaze to apartment No. 107, believed to be the Carpios’ unit.

As a crew of more than 60 firefighters battled the blaze, a dozen sheriff’s deputies helped with traffic control. The apartment complex is on a major thoroughfare near The Oaks mall.

Wells said she notified members of the Thousand Oaks City Council about the situation and called the American Red Cross to assist several dozen displaced people.

Displaced residents probably will be housed in rooms at the Village Inn Motel on Thousand Oaks Boulevard, which is owned by the same nonprofit group that owns the apartment complex.

Many Mansions Inc., a local nonprofit dedicated to affordable housing, owns Shadow Hills Apartments and completed a major renovation of the property in November 1999.

The group, started in 1979 by county Supervisor Frank Schillo, aims help move its residents closer to self-sufficiency.

Most of the nearly 1,000 people who live in Many Mansions-run homes have service jobs and are considered working poor, making less than $25,000 for a family of four.

Dan Hardy, executive director of Many Mansions, was on the scene Sunday, helping apartment residents with temporary lodging.

Sheriff’s deputies made no arrests.