Sacramento Four-Plex Fire Contained To Upstairs Unit

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - A dramatic fire lit up a Sacramento apartment complex on Monday and sent residents scrambling to get out.

"We sat down to watch a little TV and I started to make something to eat," resident Arnold Garcia said.

But Garcia would never have that dinner. His plans went up in flames as the unit above his in the Arden Arcade area four-plex on Cava Court erupted in fire at about 5:30 p.m.

"Somebody started yelling that the house was ablaze," he said.

With flames shooting out of a second-floor window, a neighbor with a hose did what he could, but the attempt was nothing more than a trickle on fierce flames.

A stubborn fire in a four-plex building sharing the same attic- fire crews say that always sounds an extra alarm.

"They have a propensity to kind of go through all the units once one unit gets fire in it," Sacramento Metro Fire Battalion Chief Maurice Johnson said.

That didn't happen this time, thanks to a quick first strike to choke the roar of the flames into a whimper and keep the damage to an upstairs unit and the roof.

"Our first arriving engine company made an aggressive fire attack and the fire actually got knocked down pretty quick," Johnson said.

The whole experience was a bit too much for Garcia, still stunned by the sudden rush of fear.

"I don't know, I'm just thankful to God that I got out," he said.

Investigators didn't release any preliminary information on what might have started the fire. Thirteen residents were displaced and Red Cross was called to assist with temporary housing.