Apartment building evacuated, 9 displaced after fire breaks out in SLO neighborhood

An apartment building was evacuated in San Luis Obispo on Friday night after a fire broke out in one of the units.

Fire crews responded to an apartment complex in the 1500 block of Madonna Road around 9:19 p.m., according to emergency response app PulsePoint.

SLO City Fire Battalion Chief Shayne Skove said there was “heavy fire and smoke coming out of the windows” of a second-floor unit when he arrived to the scene Friday night.

The fire department dispatched the battalion chief, two trucks and two engines while Cal Fire dispatched a battalion chief and a Cal Fire engine to the scene, according to Skove.

Once every household member was confirmed to have exited the apartment, firefighters began an “aggressive interior fire attack,” allowing smoke to exit from the roof’s exterior and worked to put the fire out, according to Skove.

Skove said nine people were displaced from the burned apartment, while two others did not return to a neighboring apartment due to heavy smoke odor.

Supplying Aid to Victims of Emergencies (SAVE) gift cards — given to survivors of fire and natural disasters by firefighters on scene — of $250 were given to each household. Firefighters also notified the Red Cross of the disaster so the organization could help find the residents somewhere else to stay.

San Luis Obispo Police Department Sgt. Jeff Booth told The Tribune the cause of the fire was determined to be an electrical fire.