Five Families Displaced By San Leandro Apartment Fire

A fire reported at 6:32 p.m. Monday in a fourth-floor penthouse at Belmark Apartments in San Leandro has been put out, Alameda County Fire Department spokeswoman Aisha Knowles said.

No injuries have been reported, but 14 people from five families were displaced, Knowles said. The Red Cross is making arrangements for the displaced families.

The penthouse unit next to the one where the fire started has smoke damage and the other three apartments have water damage, she said.

Residents of the complex said a family of four lives in the penthouse unit that burned and that all are safe: Three weren't home and one had just come home from work and found one of the bedrooms on fire. He pounded on his neighbors' door to make sure they got out and dialed 9-1-1, residents said.

As of 10:30 p.m., residents of the 66-unit complex at 1675 Hays St. remained evacuated but were expected to be able to return late Monday night or on Tuesday. Many waited on the street and sidewalks while firefighters searched the building for smoke and water damage and any remaining hot spots, and secured the building for re-entry.

Around 8:45 p.m., firefighters were seen entering the building with plywood. At 10 p.m., the Red Cross began serving coffee, cocoa and snacks to the evacuated residents as firefighters began escorting a few families inside the building.

James Thomas, 51, who lives in the smoke-damaged penthouse unit, said four firefighters escorted him inside his apartment so he could retrieve jackets and shoes for himself and his two children, Brittany, 14, and James Thomas Jr., 12.

"They broke both doors down and started spraying water," he said, describing what must have happened after he and his children fled. "They didn't know where the fire was, so they just started spraying," he said.

Brittany is a freshman at San Leandro High School and James Jr. is a seventh grader at Bancroft School. They ran out of the apartment immediately without trying to bring anything with them, their father said. James Jr. was without shoes.

"I was really scared," Brittany said. She did deep breathing and calmed down after about 15 minutes. She called friends who came and waited with her on the sidewalk.

Fifteen engines and more than 60 firefighters responded to the three-alarm fire, Knowles said. "They knocked the fire down within about 30 minutes," she said.

With the apartment complex's fire alarm still ringing and smoke billowing, engines filled four city blocks while firefighters set up ladders to the rooftop, carrying chainsaws and axes. The penthouse unit where the fire began was blackened. 

Power to the building and surrounding houses remained off as night fell. 

Neighbors brought candy, chips and salsa for the still-evacuated families.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Knowles said.