2 Injured In Structure Fire In Mission Beach

SAN DIEGO, CA – A fire engulfed second-floor residential units above a Mission Beach ice cream shop at dawn Tuesday, injuring two people -- one seriously -- while causing an estimated $600,000 worth of property losses.

The blaze erupted for unknown reasons about 6:50 a.m. in a rooftop storage area on the mixed-use building in the 700 block of Ventura Place, near Belmont Park, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.

A city lifeguard at the nearby beach spotted the smoke and flames, ran over to the burning two-story building and knocked on residents' doors, awakening them and telling them to evacuate, SDFRD spokeswoman Monica Munoz said.

It took firefighters about a half-hour to extinguish the flames.

Medics took a seriously injured resident to UCSD Medical Center in Hillcrest. Television news crews captured footage of emergency personnel performing CPR on the stricken man while rolling him to an ambulance in a stretcher.

A second person suffered minor injuries and declined transport to a hospital.

The two businesses beneath the fire-gutted residences -- a Dreyer's Ice Cream shop and Kojack's, a small, casual restaurant -- sustained water damage, Munoz said.

A city engineer was called in to assess the structural integrity of the building.

Investigators set the monetary losses at $500,000 to the building and $100,000 to contents.

By City News Service / Image via Shutterstock