The cause of the fatal, five-alarm fire that struck a 10-unit apartment building on Civic Center Drive on July 4 was most likely accidental, the Santa Clara Fire Department reports.
``It appears the origin of the fire was in the victim's ground-floor apartment,'' said Augie Wiedemann, deputy fire chief, adding that investigators are awaiting additional information from the coroner's office.
The death at 1101 Civic Center Drive, which killed 36-year-old Francisco J. Ayala, was the city's first fire fatality this year. Fire crews arrived on the scene within five minutes of the call at 2:44 a.m. and had the blaze under control by 5, Wiedemann said.
Because it hit a multi-unit building, the fire went to five alarms. That was the second largest fire response in Santa Clara this year after the seven-alarm blaze that struck Buchser Middle School in February and destroyed a wing of 10 classrooms. Fire officials determined that the cause was electrical and originated in an attic above the school's computer lab.
Damage to the apartment building was estimated at $3.5 million.
The first calls to the fire department came from second-story tenants who were awakened by the smoke.
``Fire from the first floor filled up the stairway with flames and smoke,'' Wiedemann said. One tenant suffered injuries to her leg and spine when she jumped from her second-story window. Some residents were rescued by firefighters.
Wiedemann reiterated the importance alarms play in early smoke detection.
``With working detectors, people can walk out of these fires uninjured,'' he said. ``Make sure the batteries are changed twice a year; when turning the clock forward an hour in the spring and back an hour in the fall.''
Wiedemann also said tenants in second-floor units who have only one way out of their homes should purchase escape ladders to safely climb out their windows.
The 15 to 20 residents displaced by the fire have been receiving support and emergency housing assistance from the American Red Cross.
