Fire destroys Larkfield apartment, damages two neighboring units

Fire destroyed one unit and damaged two others Monday at an apartment building in Larkfield north of Santa Rosa where four residents were displaced, fire officials said.

Firefighters spotted smoke from the blaze while driving on Old Redwood Highway north of Fulton Road about 3:15 p.m., about the same time someone called 911 to report the fire, Rincon Valley Fire Protection District Chief Mark Heine and emergency dispatchers said. The fire crew followed the smoke to a single-story apartment building where fire was burning in a middle unit.

“People were outside already,” Heine said. “There was a large amount of fire coming out of the windows and the front door.”

Crews from Rincon Valley, Windsor and Santa Rosa had the flames under control within about 15 minutes, preventing the fire’s spread to the adjacent units, Heine said. The middle unit was destroyed, and the two other units were damaged by smoke.

Investigators will return to the property today to determine the fire’s cause and determine how extensively the structure was damaged. The Red Cross was sheltering the four adults displaced in the fire, Heine said.