ESCONDIDO – A two-alarm fire that spread from trees to an Escondido apartment building early Thursday displaced 15 residents, destroyed three vehicles and damaged three units.
The blaze on South Hale Avenue near West Ninth Avenue ignited for unknown reasons shortly before 2 a.m. It apparently started in a row of about 20 Italian cypress trees, then spread to the building and parked vehicles, according to Battalion Chief Art Holcomb of the Escondido Fire Department.
The bulk of the fire was extinguished before it reached the structure, but three two-story units sustained damage, Holcomb said.
Building inspectors were summoned to check out damaged stairs to one of the units, he said.
Holcomb said one resident was evaluated by paramedics at the scene, but did not require hospitalization.
