Fire at Tuscany Apartments causes damage
A fire at Tuscany Apartments early Saturday morning caused significant property damage and left some residents unable to return home.
Emergency · A fire at Tuscany Apartments (above) early Saturday morning forced some residents to vacate their apartments due to damage. – Mariya Dondonyan | Daily Trojan
“We received a 911 call at 4:58 a.m. and when firefighters arrived on scene they described what they had was a small roof fire,” said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott.
Scott said it took 12 firefighters approximately one hour to extinguish the fire. To do so, residents said the fire department punched holes through the roof and into two of the fifth-floor apartments to drain the water from the hoses.
Abdullah Bundogji, a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering who lives in one of those apartments, said that the rug in his apartment and much of his bathroom were destroyed. Bundogji and his roommate moved into a room at the Radisson Hotel Los Angeles midtown at USC Saturday afternoon.
“All my clothes smell like smoke now,” Bundogji said. “I have three midterms this week, so moving over the weekend when I really need to study honestly just sucks and moving back is probably going to be even worse.”
Bundogji said he is unsure when he will be able to return to his apartment.
“I’m hearing three days, but one of the construction workers said it could take a lot longer because they have to dislodge a lot of drywall. In the bathroom there’s a lot of repairs and demolition,” Bundogji said.
Scott said the official cause of the fire remains under investigation. Residents believe it might have started from the barbecue gas line and spread because there was flammable material in the trash can next to the barbecue.No injuries were reported.
Bundogji said the majority of the damage was to his apartment and an apartment down the hall. Most residents, including Victoria Schwartz, a sophomore industrial engineering major who also lives on the fifth floor, were able to return to their apartments later on Saturday morning.
“They would not let me in afterward because of smoke,” Schwartz said. “They let me in at 7 a.m. But it’s over, and nothing happened to me thankfully.”