Tenant killed in flat fire

The air is still thick with the smell of burned wires, walls and plastic. The windows have been boarded up, and the numbers on the door signifying apartment Unit 15 have melted.

Inside, the blackened second-story apartment kitchen is stacked with scorched boxes and peeled remnants from the ceiling and walls.

One neighbor said if only he had known the tenant was still in there Wednesday night, he would have made a dash to save her.

By the time Costa Mesa firefighters arrived at the apartment complex at 859 W. 19th St, it was too late, neighbors said.

Fire officials continued to investigate Thursday the cause of a fire that killed an unidentified woman inside her apartment and caused about $150,000 in damages. Due to her burns, authorities could only estimate her age to be 55.

Neighbors said they didn’t hear the woman cough or cry for help and that her door was locked as smoke from inside the apartment crept outside.

“I started smelling smoke; at first it smelled distant,” said neighboring tenant Michael Bierce. “Then it smelled like it was right inside my apartment. I heard glass breaking and went outside.”

Outside, Bierce saw the building owner and a neighbor breaking the woman’s windows and kicking open her door only to be met with a wall of smoke and heat.

The flames were limited to the rear of the apartment, where the woman was eventually found, he said.

“She was a real nice lady. We’d pass each other on the stairs and chat for a while,” said Mike Medina, who lives two doors down from the apartment.

Nearly three dozen firefighters responded to the fire. There was smoke and heat damage to the adjacent units, and the unit below suffered water damage. That unit is still closed to tenants, officials said.

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at [email protected].