Apartments struck by fires again

Priscilla Mendoza said she found her young daughter Marisol sleeping on a bed that was burning Friday in her home at the Clovis apartments.

"I had to pull her by her feet off of the bed," Mendoza said, recalling the frenzied moments during the first of two fires late Friday that displaced 10 families and gutted four apartments at the Clovis Apartments complex. No one was seriously injured.

CNJ staff photo: Benna Sayyed

Clovis Apartments resident Nathan Ulibarri, 46, surveys damage to his apartment Saturday. Ulibarri lives across the hall from the apartment where the fire started.

It was the second major fire at the complex this year. Some 12 families were displaced in a Feb. 1 blaze.

Mendoza said she pulled Marisol off the bed and gathered up her son watching television in another room. But somewhere in the confusion, she said, only she and her son Miguel got out.

If it weren't for neighbor Nathan Ulibarri, she said, Marisol might not have escaped uninjured.

"To me it was like he saved her life," said Mendoza, starting to cry, holding Marisol by her shoulders. "If it wasn't for him going back in there I don't know what would have happened to her."

Mendoza said Ulibarri, who lived across the hall, was carrying a fire extinguisher and ran back inside the burning apartment. Moments later he emerged with Mendoza's daughter walking beside, holding on to Ulibarri.

Mendoza said the first fire started at about 6 p.m. Senior Fire Investigator Lt. Rick Qualls said the fire was extinguished, but ignited again in the attic above Mendoza's apartment about midnight.

Mendoza said she saw an infant and a 3-year-old rescued by onlookers, who climbed on each other's backs against the wall. She said the citizens forming the human ladder were able to pass the infant and the 3-year-old down to safety.

Ulibarri said when he entered his building shortly after 6 p.m. he immediately smelled smoke and saw the hallway was filled with black smoke.

"I could smell the smoke instantly. I was walking around trying to figure out what was burning," said Ulibarri, who lives with his daughter Anyah.

Ulibarri said he retrieved his fire extinguisher from his apartment and then saw smoke coming from Mendoza's apartment.

"There was a human ladder," Ulibarri said. "They were handing the kids out the window. I was catching them and handing them to whoever else was out there."

Ulibarri said he then alerted firefighters that the children's parents were still in the smoke-filled second floor apartment. He said firefighters quickly rescued the husband and wife using a ladder.

Ulibarri said his apartment wasn't damaged by fire but sustained heavy water damage.

"I'm just glad nobody got seriously injured," Ulibarri said.

"Everything that I had was in the apartment so I'm just taking it day by day. All I left with is what I had on my back."

Qualls said there were no injuries and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

United Way Executive Director Erinn Burch estimated 21 to 23 people were left homeless by the fire. Some were taken to Motel 7 and others have arranged to stay with friends and family.

Burch said organizations providing relief — the Salvation Army, Matt 25 Hope Center, and the American Red Cross — will meet with the Clovis Apartments manager at 10 a.m. Monday to plan the next step in providing the displaced families a new home.

Burch said the organizations providing relief will meet with the families at 2 p.m. Monday to inform them of the next step forward.

Burch said Clovis Apartments has recently vacated units that may be available to house displaced residents. She said the apartment maintenance staff will work quickly to prepare the units for displaced families who will have first choice of a new apartment.

Clovis Salvation Army Maj. Jim Gallop said his organization is providing a three-night stay at Motel 7 and clothes to those displaced by the fire.

Qualls said the Clovis Fire Department should release a preliminary report Monday or Tuesday. He said a detailed report will be ready in about a month.

Qualls met with tenants Saturday to determine their immediate needs and help them retrieve medicine and valuables such as cash and jewelry.

Qualls' advice to others in the event of a fire:

"When leaving a building during a fire, close everything if you have time," said Qualls. "Don't leave doors and windows open on your way out. It saves a lot of damage down the road. Call 911 first, not after you talk to other people."

Qualls said closing doors and windows restricts oxygen from entering a burning building. He said oxygen and items such as beds, dressers and coaches fuel a fire.

"As long as it's (the fire) getting oxygen it's going to take off and go," Qualls said.