Monday May 5

Fire displaced apartment building's residents

Jesse Dungan and Caitlin Cassady / Bay City News

A three-alarm fire that burned in a Sunnyvale apartment complex Saturday afternoon displaced all residents of the building, Sunnyvale Public Safety Department Lt. Jeff Schlesinger said Sunday.

The two-story building at 616 Morse Ave. has 20 units, two of which were vacant. Schlesinger said residents of 18 units were displaced by the flames and about five families received aid from the American Red Cross. The number of individuals displaced by the blaze was not immediately available.

Fire crews responded to reports of the fire at 1:52 p.m. and found flames licking the roof of the building, city spokesman John Pilger said. A preliminary investigation indicated that the flames spread from a barbeque to a nearby tree, which then ignited the roof and attic space.

Schlesinger said the flames ran along the entire attic of the second floor and completely destroyed three or four separate units. Other units sustained varying levels of water, smoke or fire damage.

By 4 p.m., the fire was declared under control.

The official cause of the blaze remains under investigation, and the cost of the damage has not yet been determined.

"I would suspect that it is going to be a total loss," Schlesinger said.

No one was injured in the blaze.