Trapped CA Residents Rescued by Firefighters
By Mark Gozez and Robert Salonga
Source The Mercury News
Nov. 7 -- SAN JOSE, CA -- Two people trapped inside an upstairs apartment as a fire burned in an adjacent unit were rescued early Wednesday morning by firefighters who used a ladder to help them escape through a window, in what authorities are investigating as a possible arson.
A man suspected of starting the fire was located, but not arrested, and was placed on 72-hour involuntary hold at a local psychiatric emergency facility, according to San Jose police. The man’s identity, and any connection between him and the site of the fire, were not immediately disclosed, but police dispelled early media reports that a domestic-violence situation preceded the blaze.
San Jose Fire Capt. Mike Van Elgort said the two people who were rescued from the upstairs unit on the 700 block of Menker Avenue, located off Parkmoor Avenue, were not injured.
Firefighters responded to the complex just before 9 a.m. after receiving a 911 call from a person who was “hysterical” and claimed that someone had started a fire, Van Elgort said. As firefighters responded to the two-alarm blaze, they could see heavy smoke from a distance.
Crews arrived within four minutes of receiving the 911 call and found one of the two upstairs units “well involved” in flames, Van Elgort said. The two people living in the adjacent unit could not escape through the front door and were rescued through the window.
“That’s why departments need to be well-staffed and well managed,” Van Elgort said. “This was a good example. We were able to get there in a timely fashion, before the fire spread, and those people were rescued without any injuries.”
Another man who suffered “significant injuries” was taken to a hospital, Van Elgort said. The man was initially in the upstairs unit that caught fire.
A downstairs unit suffered water damage, and a total of 10 people were displaced by the blaze.
While firefighters did received reports the fire was intentionally set, fire cause investigators are still working to determine an official cause, Van Elgort said. Additional details about the man placed on a psychiatric hold were not immediately available, and San Jose police said there were no immediate.
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