As flames swallowed up a second-floor apartment Monday morning, Ronald Garcia felt a lump rising in his throat.
He wondered whether he might be watching someone also being consumed by that same fire.
“I started worrying because I didn’t know if anybody was trapped in there,” Garcia said. “I know it’s not the smartest idea to kick in a door when there’s flames because of the oxygen, but we were a little worried.”
He, along with his coworkers and tenants at the Park Vista apartments, sprang into action, banging on doors of the building to alert people and doing what they could to get to anyone inside those units.
The fire broke out around 9:30 a.m. at the complex, located off Military Drive West and Five Palms Drive.
Garcia also grabbed his phone and captured video of the flames, pushing through a window.
“The window was already busted out of both sides and the door was locked,” Garcia said. “Thank God it was empty.”
Juan Aragon, who lives on the ground floor of the building, said he was alerted to the fire by someone who came to his door.
“I just heard a banging,” Aragon said. “I wondered who was banging, so I just went to the door. He said, ‘The building’s on fire.’”
Aragon said he quickly called out to his granddaughter, who was working from home.
The two then grabbed some of their personal property and ran from the apartment.
Several hours later, they were still waiting for the all clear to return home.
The fire damaged one or two apartments beyond the unit where it started, according to the fire department.
Aragon’s apartment was spared.
He said what happened, with people helping during the fire, has given him an encouraging perspective on his neighbors.
“I see a lot of people now moving to help each other, you know?” he said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Read also:
