63 evacuate after fire erupts in apartment

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Aug 23, 2007 | by Melanie CarrollSTAFF

EAST PALO ALTO -- Less than 24 hours after a kitchen fire in a Woddland Avenue apartment building forced 63 residents to evacuate, most of them were returning to their homes Wednesday night, building manager Matthew Waqewaqe said.

A third-floor resident was frying food Tuesday when the oil in his pan ignited a blaze around 5:45 p.m., said Capt. Charles Sturtevant of the Menlo

Park Fire Protection District.

"He unsuccessfully tried to extinguish it" and called 9-1-1, Sturtevant said. "He proceeded to knock on the doors and evacuated people."

Firefighters from Redwood City, Palo Alto and Menlo Park responded to the one-alarm blaze at 1777 Woodland Ave., Sturtevant said.

No one was injured, but damage to the three-story,

27-unit apartment building was estimated at $200,000, officials said.

The faint scent of smoke lingered inside the apartment building Wednesday as workers mended a portion of the roof

above where the fire broke out.

"We're working hard as a team," Waqewaqe said. "We're working 24- 7."

Electricity was turned back on, and a PG&E crew worked to restore gas about 4 p.m., Waqewaqe said.

Water and fire damage to four units -- three on the third floor and one on the second -- prevented some residents from moving back in late Wednesday, the building manager said.

Residents in the unit where the fire began are receiving help from their church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said Bruce Burtch, a spokesman for the American Red Cross' Bay Area chapter.

Red Cross workers arrived on the scene Tuesday and opened a shelter at the University Avenue YMCA, Burtch said. Two residents showed up and left shortly afterward, Burtch said.

Most residents found a place to spend the night with family or friends, although one wheelchair-bound person was placed in a hotel by the apartment manager and given a food voucher by the Red Cross, Burtch said.

The Red Cross will remain in touch with residents in case they need assistance in coming days, Burtch said.

E-mail Melanie Carroll at mcarroll@dailynewsgroup.com.