February 15, 2010 (Spring Valley) – Two men were injured in an apartment fire yesterday morning in the 9200 block of Kenwood Drive in Spring Valley. One injured his leg after jumping from a second story balcony; the other suffered smoke inhalation. Both were taken to a hospital.
Firefighters from San Miguel arrived and began evacuating residents within 16 minutes of receiving a call about the fire at 9:45 a.m. One unit was damaged and a unit blow sustained water damage.
The Red Cross offered assistance to two families. Eleven people are displaced, including four people from the upstairs unit damaged by fire, as well as a mother and her six children from the first floor unit.
While this fire did not officially go second alarm, it got a second alarm response. Several East County Fire Agencies also responded. The additional teams were in the San Miguel District conducting Sunday morning roof ventilation drills–the same skills applied to help minimize damage to the apartment complex, says Leonard Villareal, public information officer for San Miguel Fire.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. A dollar loss is yet to be determined.