Contractor's quick thinking lauded after Santa Rosa apartment fire

Contractor Carlos Gonzalez was working inside a friend’s small Santa Rosa apartment when he heard a fire alarm and the sound of a woman screaming.

He ran outside to find smoke billowing from the roof of the apartment building next door. When he saw a woman on the second-story balcony calling out for help, he grabbed his ladder and ran as fast as he could.

Gonzalez, 54, of Santa Rosa propped the ladder against the side of the building and climbed up to the balcony, where he tried to talk the woman into climbing down.

Behind her, he could see fire shooting through her apartment.

“She was saying that she had to get her stuff,” he said. “I told her, ‘You can’t do anything about that. You have to go now.’?”

It was a tense few moments before he convinced the woman to go, and he helped her down the ladder and away from the burning building.

“I wasn’t scared,” he said. “But I was thinking that maybe the gas would explode or something. I wanted to get out of there. ”

The woman, later identified by Santa Rosa Fire Department Battalion Chief Jack Piccinini as Kaela Arowcavage, was then able to walk toward McBride Lane, where she was met by fire and medical crews. Arowcavage, who had minor burns on her hands and to her hair and suffered from smoke inhalation, was taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, he said. Her condition was not known Friday evening.

Gonzalez’s actions may have saved her from more serious injuries, Piccinini said.

“I think he did a genuinely great thing,” Piccinini said. “Without a doubt, it was very commendable.”

Arowcavage was the only person in the second-story unit of the Twin Tree Apartments on McBride Lane when it caught fire around 1:20 p.m., sending plumes of black smoke over the Santa Rosa neighborhood only blocks from Coddingtown Mall.

Firefighters arrived on the scene within minutes, according to Piccinini, and were able to access the two-bedroom unit using a back stairwell. They quickly contained the worst of the blaze to just the one apartment. It took about 30 minutes for the fire crews to put out the fire.

Two adjacent units were damaged by smoke, but the fire did not spread, said Piccinini, who estimated the loss at $150,000. Karina Espinoza and her two infant children, who were in one of the adjacent apartments, were treated for smoke inhalation and taken to a local hospital, Piccinini said.

Residents poured out of their apartments and into the building’s parking lots, some holding small children, as fire crews arrived to battle the blaze in Friday’s midafternoon 95-degree heat.

Property manager Kathryn Baker said the 20-unit building was completely rented and she was thankful the fire was contained quickly.

“Well, everybody’s safe,” Baker said. “That’s the most important thing.”

She said she was astounded by how quickly the Fire Department arrived and said, “I couldn’t believe how many trucks were out here.

“I’m grateful the Fire Department got here so fast,” she said. “Very grateful.”

Six fire engines, two trucks and about 25 personnel were called to the two-alarm blaze.

Piccinini said the cause of the fire was believed to be an unattended candle.

You can reach Staff Writer Elizabeth M. Cosin at 521-5276 or elizabeth.cosin@ pressdemocrat.com.