An early morning fire Saturday destroyed an unoccupied three-bedroom unit at La Mesa Terrace Apartments, but firefighters quickly knocked down the blaze and contained the fire to the unit on Vincetta Drive.
At about 8:47 a.m., apartment resident Kimberly Pike raced around the 37-unit complex knocking on doors and told neighboring residents to evacuate the building.
"I looked out and saw flames coming from the front window," Pike said. "It blew out the window. They didn't understand and I said, 'No, you've really got to get out.'"
Fellow resident Jason Nichols also knocked on doors and banged on the door of the apartment that was ablaze. But he said that there was no answer.
"We were glad that no one was hurt," Pike said. "We were worried because they have two kids."
Heartland Battalion Chief Bent Koch said firefighters arrived within five minutes of the 911 calls to find the unit fully involved. They extinguished the blaze within 10 minutes.
Apartment residents were evacuated and kept clear from one section of the apartment complex. No one was injured.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, he said.
