Jan. 30--CONCORD -- A woman went to the hospital in critical condition Monday afternoon after a fire in her Clayton Road apartment, firefighters said.
The cause of the fire -- the second this month at the Clayton Creek Apartments -- is under investigation, Contra Costa Fire Marshal Lewis Broschard said.
It began about 1:38 p.m., when alarms went off and people started yelling.
"I heard kids yelling 'Fire!' near my apartment," Serena Gross said.
Flames blasted out of the second-floor unit's windows and over the roof line. Fire dispatchers initially heard that as many as three people were trapped inside, but firefighters searching the burning apartment found only one victim, a 35-year-old woman.
Broschard
described her as unconscious and not breathing when found. Paramedics performed CPR and took her to a regional trauma center, where she remained hospitalized Monday evening.
The fire grew to two alarms before the crew brought it under control about 2:15 p.m. No one else was hurt, though smoke and water damaged six to eight neighboring apartments, Broschard said.
"It seemed like a pretty big fire," said Chira Eton, who also lives in the complex at 5200 Clayton. "It looked like it engulfed the whole apartment before the engines arrived."
Neighbors said two women lived at the apartment for several years. The victim's roommate was not injured.
A one-alarm fire at the same complex Jan. 6 sent another resident to the hospital
for treatment of smoke inhalation.
Copyright 2012 - The Oakland Tribune, Calif.
