High winds were responsible for a fire damaging 3 apartments in the 1300 block of East Drexel after the fire spread from a detached carport area further to the east. At about 1 pm 9-1-1 received multiple calls from passers by seeing black smoke in the area.
The initial Tucson Fire Department unit arrived on scene east of the apartment complex at 1:11 P.M. and reported a detached carport with a vehicle fully engulfed in fire. They immediately began extinguishing the entire carport area, trying to get between the fire and the apartment complex as quickly as possible.
The fire was already threatening the apartment units to the east with oleanders, fences, and trees being burned. The battalion chief arrived on scene and called for a second alarm since the fire spreading quickly with the high wind conditions. Additional personnel arrived on scene and tried containing the fire by attacking the fire from multiple areas. At one point, an ember landed on the rooftop of an apartment building 3 buildings further east and started a small fire before another crew was able to extinguish it.
3 apartment units in the middle of the apartment building sustained heavy fire damage. There were 2 occupants that lived in each unit which caused total of 6 people being displaced. Red Cross assisted the residents.
Tucson Fire Department personnel medically assessed one person on the scene but they didn’t require being transported to the hospital. With a second alarm being dispatched, approximately 20 units and 40 firefighters responded to the scene. This helps keep firefighters fresh as temperatures were in the high 80’s during firefighting operations.
Investigators were on scene to determine the exact cause and origin of the fire but both are still under investigation.