RIVERSIDE: Firefighters battle 5-alarm 10th-floor high-rise structure fire, rescue elderly victims
Numerous fire apparatus lined the streets around the Mt. Rubidoux Manner. Loudlabs News photo
RIVERSIDE – At least two people suffered minor injuries during an early-morning, 5-alarm, high-rise structure fire at the Mt. Rubidoux Manor Thursday, Dec. 8. The fire began in an apartment on the tenth-floor, according to fire officials.
Mt. Rubidoux Manor is an independent senior living building located in the 3900 block of Tenth Street in Riverside. The 16 story apartment complex houses residents who are 62 years-old and older as well as persons with disabilities. Each of the 16 floors houses thirteen apartments.
A total of 185 apartments and over 200 residents were evacuated during the emergency. All thirteen residents on the tenth floor and several residents from the ninth-floor were displaced by the blaze.
73 firefighters from 14 engine companies and three truck companies responded to the reported fire, according to Riverside Fire Public Information Officer Bruce Vanderhorst. They were assisted by a breathing support unit and eight ground ambulances.
Thick flames and billowing smoke poured from the apartment where the fire began. Loudlabs News photo
City of Riverside firefighters and police officers responded to the blaze about 12:20 a.m., after receiving multiple 911 calls reporting the structure fire.
“First arriving firefighters found an apartment fully engulfed with heavy fire and smoke coming from an apartment on the tenth floor,” Riverside Fire Captain Tim Odebralski explained.
Fire and police officials could see numerous residents who were trapped and needing rescue from the tenth-floor and above. Many residents could be seen on their balconies on the tenth-floor and above flashing their apartment lights and using flashlights to gain firefighters and officers attention for rescue.
After their arrival, firefighters quickly accessed the tenth-floor from an exterior stairwell and initiated an aggressive fire attack.
Many residents could be seen standing on their balconies flashing apartment lights and flashlights for rescue. Loudlabs News photo
While firefighters began attacking the fire, other firefighters and police officers searched the other apartments, evacuating the elderly residents. During their initial search, firefighters found several other elderly residents still inside adjacent apartments.
As firefighters approached the source of the fire on the tenth-floor, they located an elderly woman lying in the hallway near the open door of her apartment. Firefighters found flames and smoke raging from inside her apartment.
Firefighters’ evacuated the victim from the tenth-floor, carrying her downstairs to safety. Firefighter/paramedics treated her for smoke inhalation before AMR medics transported her to a local area hospital for further evaluation and treatment.
Riverside police officers assisted with evacuating elderly residents from the senior living center. Loudlabs News photo
Another resident from the tenth-floor was also treated by paramedics before being transported to a hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation.
Firefighters knocked the fire down about 1:05 a.m., about an hour after the blaze was reported. They were able to contain the fire to the apartment in which it had started.
“There was minimal fire extension to the two adjacent apartments,” according to Odebralski. The hallway also sustained substantial heat and smoke damage.
Some residents were allowed to shelter-in-place on floors well below the fire floor, according to Odebralski. The Dale Senior Center, located next door to Mt. Rubidoux Manor, served as a temporary evacuation center.
Most of the residents were allowed back into their apartments shortly before 5:30 a.m. Riverside firefighters, police officers, and American Medical Response personnel assisted moving the residents back into their apartments.
A victim is rolled out from the Mt. Rubidoux Manner during the fire. Loudlabs News photo
The American Red Cross was summoned to the scene to assist residents from the tenth-floor who were displaced by the fire, as well as some residents from the ninth-floor who were displaced due to water damage. Some of those displaced by the fire were temporarily re-housed in unoccupied apartments at the Mt. Rubidoux Manner.
Vanderhorst estimated the fire loss at about $1 million dollars; however, firefighters saved $16 million dollars of the property due to their quick and aggressive attack of the blaze.
Fire crews were expected to remain at the building throughout the day checking the structure for any smoldering or hot spots to ensure against accidental flare-ups, Vanderhorst explained.
No fire personnel were reported injured while battling the fire.
The cause, which some residents at the scene had reportedly been told was started by a resident who had been smoking inside her apartment, is under investigation.
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Trevor Montgomery spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg in an off-duty accident.
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including the Robert Presley Detention Center, the Southwest Station in Temecula, the Hemet Station, and the Lake Elsinore Station, along with many other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, Personnel and Background Investigations and he finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator.
Trevor has been married for more than 26 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and has 13 children and 12 – soon to be 13 – grandchildren.