‘Such a sad night’: Fire at Petaluma apartment complex displaces 15

Fifteen people were displaced late Thursday night by a fire at an apartment complex in Petaluma, and a battalion chief confirmed that it appears to have started in the ground-floor carport area.

Firefighters were dispatched a little after 11:30 p.m. Thursday to Oak Creek Apartments at 110 Graylawn Ave., and arrived within three minutes to find the structure “well involved,” Petaluma Fire Department Battalion Chief Kevin Weaver said.

Heavy fire was coming from the carport area, with five vehicles on fire there along with the exterior of the building and upper-floor apartments, Weaver said. Firefighters worked quickly to extinguish the blaze, and no injuries were reported.

The complex was deemed uninhabitable, causing 15 people to be displaced, and damage is estimated to be near $500,000, the department said.

Weaver said firefighters always make a “head count” of displaced residents and report it to the local Red Cross in order to find them temporary housing.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Weaver said it could take days or weeks to make a final determination.

A resident of the complex posted on social media that the fire began with an electric vehicle in the carport.

“I can see that section of carport from my patio,” the resident said. “I was awake and had my slider open so I heard it when the flames started. I ran outside with my phone and called 911 and it was just that car on fire at that time. Then it quickly spread! Such a sad night for our neighbors!”

The resident added that “firemen spent a large portion of their visit focused on that car after flames were extinguished as well.”

Weaver confirmed one of the vehicles that burned was electric, but whether it was the cause of the fire was “hard to say because of the smoke and fire damage. … All the area was well involved when we arrived.”

Moireen Merrill, the apartment manager at Oak Creek Apartments, said she was asleep when the fire began. But when the phone rang and she ran out to see the building on fire, “I started bawling,” she said.

“I started crying, because of the extent of the fire, when I saw it. I was crying for my tenants.”

After calming down, Merrill said, she worked with firefighters to make sure everyone was accounted for and had someplace to stay that night.

The 15 displaced residents had lived in six now-condemned units, she said. Two of the residents went to stay with family members, while others were put up at the local Holiday Inn, Merrill said.

“They’re fairly well taken care of at this time,” she said on Monday, adding that after the fire, “It was very nice to see how every tenant came together as a family.”

Rancho Adobe Fire District, Sonoma Valley Fire Department and North Bay Fire District personnel also responded to the Thursday night blaze.

Contact Staff Writer Alana Minkler at 707-526-8511 or alana.minkler@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @alana_minkler. Contact Argus-Courier Editor Don Frances at don.frances@arguscourier.com. On Twitter @mrdonfrances.