Heroes at three-alarm Modesto apartment fire include landscapers, off-duty nurse
A three-alarm fire Tuesday damaged eight apartments and displaced eight residents of Casa de Paz, a north Modesto complex.
Modesto Fire Department Deputy Chief Darin Jesberg said firefighters responded around 10:22 a.m. to the fire at the Bridgeford Lane complex, which is just northeast of McHenry and Sylvan avenues.
He said four of the eight apartments sustained significant damage. The Red Cross is helping the residents displaced by the fire.
Jesberg said firefighters were aided by good Samaritans.
He said residents reported seeing a male with burns to his hands leaving a ground-floor burning apartment, which is where the fire may have started.
Jesberg said a firefighter reported that a driver saw the fire, stopped and offered to help. The driver said she was an off-duty nurse and drove the man with the burns to the hospital. Jesberg added that a landscaping crew working at Casa de Paz helped firefighters evacuate the complex.
“Me and my co-worker were running up and down the stairs, banging on screen doors and windows, trying to get everyone out,” said Daniel Cabral, who called The Bee after reading the story on www.modbee.com.
Cabral said he works for Oakdale-based Tabco Enterprises. He and his co-worker, Jesus Garcia, and their crew lead, Gildardo Espinoza, were on a break when they saw smoke coming from a back bedroom.
Cabral said he and Garcia ran to the front of the building to get people out while Espinoza called 911 and the property manager. Cabral said they got about a half dozen people out of their apartments.
Cabral said he saw the man with the burning hands run from his apartment while holding a cooking pan. Cabral said the man appeared to be in his late 20s.
Jesberg said officials plan to honor the landscapers and the nurse — if they can identify her — for their actions.
He said while officials believe the fire may have started in the ground-floor apartment the male was seen leaving, the origin and cause remain under investigation. A damage estimate was not available.
He said firefighters rescued two birds and a cat. That included giving the cat oxygen. All three pets were returned to their owners.
Jesberg said the fire was upgraded to a second alarm. It then went to a third alarm because of the apartment complex’s size and construction — it is built of wood — and Tuesday’s very hot weather. The high temperature was 102 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
The website apartment.com says the complex was built in 1974 and has 67 apartments.
Jesberg said 10 fire engines and three ladder trucks and about 50 firefighters responded to the fire. He said The Salvation Army responded to provide relief for firefighters, including water and food.
This story was originally published August 17, 2022 at 6:42 AM.
