Fire Blazed Monday Night at Chestnut and Grand

Update 1:55 p.m.: Edgar Arceneaux said he located his family members who were in the home where the fire occurred Monday night. 

South San Francisco Police and Fire Departments had not yet responded with details of the investigation into the fire at the time of this article.

Roberta Rodrigues, who lives in the housing unit directly connected to the home where the fire occured, said Tuesday afternoon that she did not know the cause of the fire. She said that the housing complex has had problems with its electrical system for many years.

9:00 a.m.: A two-alarm structure fire blazed late Monday night in South San Francisco, according to fire officials.

Firefighters received reports of the fire at 873 Grand Ave. at about 11:29 p.m., a fire dispatcher said.

Three people in the unit where the fire started were taken to a hospital, South San Francisco fire Battalion Chief Steve Cardosi said.

Edgar Arceneaux and his Aunt, Constance, said they are family of the three victims living at the housing complex where the fire occured. Constance said she recognized the house on the news this morning.

Edgar said he is currently trying to locate his family members, Edgar and Manuel, and his grandmother Ermner Arceneaux.

Edgar and Constance said that employees at the hospital where the victims were taken told them the victims were released around 3 a.m. Tuesday.

"I'm worried about them," Constance said mid-morning Tuesday. She said her mother is 87 and has diabetes, her brother suffers from alzheimers, and her other brother recently underwent chemotherapy. She said they probably did not know phone numbers by heart to be able to call from where they are, if they left their cell phones in the fire.

A South San Francisco police officer also inhaled some smoke while helping firefighters open up the building, Cardosi said. He was taken to a hospital and was treated and released, police said.

The fire was controlled in about 45 minutes. A total of seven people were displaced -- three from the unit where the fire started, and four from the adjoining unit because of fire damage to a shared attic space, Cardosi said.

The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.

South San Francisco resident, Dan Robles, witnessed some of the fire. He told Patch that when he approached Grand Ave. from Chestnut Ave. late Monday night, he saw a family in the back seat of a police car, wrapped in blankets.

-Bay City News contributed to this report.

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