Fire rips through Yuba City apartment complex. Dozen of residents are displaced
A few dozen people were displaced Monday evening when a fire ripped through an apartment complex in Yuba City, according to authorities in Sutter County.
The fire was reported about 4:45 p.m. at the large apartment complex in the 300 block of McRae Way, just west of the Feather River and several blocks east of Highway 99, said Assistant Fire Chief Bill Fuller of the Yuba City Fire Department.
Initially, callers reported four apartments were burning at the complex. The first firefighters arrived within a few minutes. Fuller said nine apartments were either burned or sustained water or smoke damage.
He said the fire chief told him that 35 people were displaced by the fire, including 25 adults and 10 children.
Red Cross volunteers in Sutter County opened a shelter at the Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds for displaced residents who needed a temporary place to stay, officials announced in a Red Cross news release Monday night. The shelter is at 442 Franklin Avenue in Yuba City.
The Red Cross anticipated about 80 people displaced by the fire may need to stay at the shelter at the fairgrounds, which is open to anyone affected by the apartment complex fire. Along with a place to stay, food and beverages will be provided.
When asked about the discrepancy in the number of people displaced, Fuller said the Red Cross numbers might be an updated estimate. He said Pacific Gas and Electric Co. crews shut down power at the apartment complex as a precaution as firefighters worked to put out the fire, which might have led to more people needing a place to stay.
Fuller said investigators had not determined the cause of the fire or where it might have started. He said fire officials had not determined the cost of the damage caused by the fire. On Monday night, no injuries had been reported.
Firefighters from Marysville and Sutter County also responded to the fire. Fuller said a group of firefighters would remain at the apartment complex to make sure there aren’t smoldering hot spots that could reignite the blaze.
