LAKEPORT — The cause of a major structure fire which broke out at the Bel Air apartment complex on Lakeport’s Main Street Sunday evening is being investigated by a task force comprised of local fire and law enforcement agencies.
The Lakeport Fire Department and the Lakeport Police Department—two major responders to the blaze—are attempting to pin down its cause with assistance from firefighter Andrew Peterson of the Lake County Fire Protection District.
LPD Chief Brad Rasmussen said that the on-site investigation was likely to take at least the full day Monday. The task force will likely cross reference camera footage from inside the building with statements from witnesses while assessing the physical evidence in order to determine where and how the fire started.
According to Rasmussen, the fire began at 6:20 p.m. Sunday. Shortly thereafter, two LPD officers—Mark Steele and Taylor Trouette—arrived in their patrol cars and entered the building as flames poured out of the Main Street side second-story windows. A video taken by local veterinarian Chris Holmes shows Steele and Trouette running into the building, flashlights in hand, before any other responders had arrived.
Steele and Trouette “went into the building and were yelling and running around, getting people out. We believe everybody got out,” Rasmussen said. No civilian injuries were noted, but smoke-related injuries are possible for those who had been inside the building when the fire broke out. In the process of evacuating residents, Steele and Trouette sustained minor smoke inhalation injuries and were transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital, to be released early Monday morning.
The Bel Aire Apartments remain largely intact as direct fire damage was limited to the second floor units on the southern side of the building, as well as a common attic space which connects the building’s two wings across a courtyard-style entrance.
“The upper south unit was significantly burned,” said Rasmussen. “The north wing didn’t burn but appears to have a lot of smoke intrusion.”
LFD firefighter Spencer Johnson said that while fire damage was restricted, “pretty severe” smoke damage is present throughout the building.
Johnson, who was one of more than 15 LFD firefighters—including volunteers—to respond to the event, said that the fire had been well involved in the southern second floor apartment, and that shortly after the flames had been knocked down there, the attic space behind the apartment reignited.
“We had heavy fire from the south wing upper apartment, and we got that down and it had gotten into the attic space,” Johnson said.
“We thought they had it out at about 7 p.m.,” said Rasmussen. But minutes later, the blaze rebounded out of the attics, with “large flames shooting out of the back of the south wing, and it spread around toward the north wing.”
The fire was prevented from spreading to the north side of the building and was again suppressed, until a small flare-up at 2 a.m., which was promptly extinguished. Johnson said that “the rest of the firefight was spent ventilating”—opening holes in the building’s roof, walls and windows in order to prevent further ignitions.
The Bel Aire building has been red-tagged to prohibit occupancy due to smoke damage, but has not been condemned.
LFD Captain Rick Bergem said Monday that he and Johnson had been the only two firefighters on staff at the time the fire was called in Sunday, due to a reduced shift schedule following budget cuts at the department that have seen six firefighters let go.
Bergem added that it had been lucky the fire was called in when both he and Johnson were at the station. If they had been on an ambulance call, he said, or fighting another fire, their response time would have been long. With the decreased staffing levels, he said, “it’s a roll of the dice.”
Nevertheless, the response from LFD was robust Sunday, with volunteers including some of those recently laid off coming in to fight the blaze. According to Johnson, the North Shore Fire Protection District, the Kelseyville Fire Department, and Cal Fire all responded along with LFD and LPD. The South Lake County Fire Protection District sent a medic in, Johnson added.
“It was a large building, so they call for a lot of resources. It was nice to see all those guys come in,” said Johnson.
As of Monday morning, Main Street was closed between Eleventh Street and Clearlake Avenue, and Clearlake Avenue was closed between Main Street and Forbes Street. Forbes Street and Eleventh Street remained open, and all businesses were able to be open Monday, according to Chief Rasmussen. Road closures were not expected to last until Tuesday.
