Residents evacuated after fire at Modesto senior living complex; one taken to hospital

A portion of a Modesto senior living complex had to be evacuated early Thursday afternoon as fire crews responded to a two-alarm fire.

The fire appeared to have started around 12:30 p.m. in one of the first floor apartments at Parkview Christian Estates on the 3100 block of Napier Ave., according to Modesto Fire Chief Alan Ernst, who was at the scene.

While there were initial reports that someone was trapped inside the two-story complex, that proved not to be the case, he said. Residents on both floors were evacuated from apartments in the area surrounding the fire because of heavy smoke.

Four people were treated by paramedics on site for smoke inhalation and at least one person was taken to hospital, Ernst said.

The fire was contained to the first floor apartment where it was believed to have started, but the smoke spread throughout both stories and firefighters continued to work at the scene to clear it.

Other agencies also responded to the fire, including Ceres Fire and Stanislaus Consolidated.

This story was originally published July 4, 2019 at 2:34 PM.