Apartment fire displaces family

GLENDALE — The local chapter of the American Red Cross is seeking housing for a family of five whose apartment was severely damaged in a fire Tuesday.

The Glendale Fire Department’s Arson Investigation Team was looking into the cause of the fire Wednesday, Glendale Fire Capt. Tom Propst said.

The fire started about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in the kitchen of an apartment on the second floor of the two-story building on the 1400 block of East Wilson Avenue, he said.

Firefighters arrived at the fire and the apartment’s residents were not inside, Propst said.

The fire was confined to the kitchen and utility service room, he said.

But the fire’s destruction was costly, causing $50,000 worth in structural damage and destroying $15,000 worth in valuables, Propst said.

The apartment’s residents and firefighters were not injured during the fire, he said.

But the apartment was no longer safe and inhabitable for its residents, a mother, father and their three children, said Robert Reynoso, emergency services director of the American Red Cross Glendale and La Crescenta Chapter.

“We were called to provide immediate emergency need,” he said.

Red Cross found temporary housing for the family at a local hotel, which Red Cross pays for up to three days, Reynoso said.

“We will be working with the family and their recovery efforts,” he said.

Most of the family’s personal belongings inside their bedrooms were safe and went untouched by the fire, Reynoso said.

The Red Cross responds to about 25 fires involving families each year in their coverage area, and they provide immediate assistance to the families who were displaced by fire, he said.

The Red Cross generally provides the families with temporary housing, clothing, medicine and groceries. It also helps families find permanent housing.

The last house fire that firefighters responded to occurred about 3:18 p.m. Oct. 13 in the 1900 block of Chilton Drive. Firefighters found smoke pluming from a two-story home and fire destroying the home’s basement.

They pulled an 88-year-old man from the fire. The man, who was the homeowner, suffered smoke inhalation.

The homeowner reportedly tried to work on an outside water line, but mistakenly cut a gas line that supplied a water heater.

The home’s damage was estimated at $200,000.

Any landlords who are interested in renting out a unit to the family is asked to call Reynoso at (818) 243-3121, ext. 114.