Fire destroys Santa Rosa apartments

Fire burned a west Santa Rosa apartment complex Sunday morning, displacing about two dozen residents and causing an estimated $950,000 in damage, fire officials said.

The three-alarm fire at The Village apartments on Bay Village Circle was reported about 7:45 a.m., Santa Rosa Battalion Chief Ken Sebastiani said.

It appeared to have started in a hollow space between apartment units and spread to the attic before it was extinguished, Sebastiani said.

Four apartments in the 12-unit complex near Piner and Marlow roads were completely destroyed, Sebastiani said. The rest had smoke and other damage that made them uninhabitable, he said.

The Red Cross was helping residents find temporary lodging, Sebastiani said.

One of the 50 firefighters called out suffered a broken hand. A disabled woman in a wheelchair was temporarily trapped in a first-floor unit, he said.

The cause appeared to be electrical but was still under investigation, Sebastiani said.

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ppayne.