Firefighters and police officers rescued some residents from second-story balconies of their burning San Jose apartment building Thursday night, then spent this morning trying to help the more than 50 people left homeless by the blaze.
One man suffered a sprained a wrist and hurt his back jumping off the balcony. Another resident was treated for smoke inhalation. And a firefighter also hurt his back battling the blaze. But no one was injured seriously.
The four-alarm fire was so big and dangerous that it required about 100 firefighters to handle it. Milpitas and Santa Clara sent personnel and equipment to the scene.
``This could have been really bad,'' , said San Jose fire Capt. Allison Cabral.
With residents' best escape route blocked by heavy smoke and fire in the second-floor central hallway running the length of the two-story building, frantic residents were forced to try to find a way down to the ground from their balconies.
When firefighters' legs began breaking through the floor as they made their way down the through the hall of flame, the commander on the scene ordered the crews to leave the building. By the time the fire was out, the 28-unit building had sustained $2.5 million to $3 million in damage, making it San Jose's costliest fire since a blaze at the Seven Trees Shopping Center in June.
The fire at the Pinewood Terrace Apartments, 2620 Alvin Ave. near Highway 101 and Tully Road, was reported at 10:41 p.m.
Firefighters arrived six minutes later, but fire was already roaring out of the windows of two corner apartments, and spreading fast, Cabral said.
This morning, shaken residents of the burned building were gathered on the lawn outside. Among them was Wilhemina Tram, who was wearing a pink bathrobe and dark slippers as she recalled the ordeal of the night before.
At one point, feeling certain that her prayers to be saved would not be answered in time, she turned to her frail, elderly sister, Merideth Timbang, and said, ``Me and you, we're going to die.''
She said she would rather die with her sister than try to save herself, if it came to that. ``She cannot stay by herself alone.''
But then a police officer placed a ladder against the rear balcony and told the women to quickly climb down. ``I'm so scared last night. I don't know how to get down. I'm afraid I'll hurt myself.''
Finally, a firefighter arrived and helped the women get on the ladder and move to safety. Once on the ground, Tram said, a wave of emotion washed over her, leaving her shaking and head-achy.
On the other side of the building this morning, Khanh Trinh, a teacher from a nearby elementary school, helped out as an interpreter for the Vietnamese-speaking fire victims.
She asked a firefighter to go inside and get some things from the apartment of first-floor fire victim Theodora Hue Nguyen, 76, who uses a wheelchair. He emerged from the building with a box of clothing, her dentures in a cup of sooty water, her medications and her address book. A police officer packed Nguyen in his patrol car and prepared to take her to a nearby hotel room provided by the Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross.
At least three people were going to be put up by the Red Cross, the organization told Cabral Tuesday night, but that number might have climbed since then. A call to the Red Cross wasn't immediately returned.
Most people seemed to have relatives or friends they can stay with for a while, Cabral said.
About 40 people sheltered overnight in the cafeteria at nearby O.B. Whaley School. Pricipal Lisa Antiga said two or three families with children in the school were displaced by the fire. The children were not at school today.
She said the event was still ``very traumatic'' for the students at the school, which she described as tightly knit. She said calls were coming in from all over the surrounding neighborhood with offers of clothing and food for the fire victims.
``Our teachers are all very concerned, `How can we help?'''
