Dozens displaced after explosion at Sacramento apartment complex

By Brandon Downs, Tori Apodaca

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    SACRAMENTO (KOVR) — Dozens of people are displaced after an explosion at an apartment complex in West Sacramento Sunday morning, the West Sacramento Fire Department said.

Just after 10:30 a.m., firefighters responded to reports of an explosion on the 500 block of 7th Street in West Sacramento.

At the scene, firefighters found significant damage indicating an explosion.

Crews began searching for victims and said two people were found with minor injuries. They were not taken to the hospital.

There were 14 occupied units severely impacted, resulting in 34 displaced people.

One of the units was under construction and occupied at the time.

Firefighters were making temporary shores to make sure the building was safe until construction crews could come in and investigate. Many windows are broken and a large chunk of the wall fell down.

Crews said there was a grass fire that was extinguished quickly.

What caused the blast is under investigation.

“I thought we were being bombed,” said Savina Hernaneez who lives in the apartment complex. “I thought someone was setting off bombs I was scared, I was really scared.”

She was relieved when she learned it was not a bomb, but an explosion.

“It was just unbelievable like you can’t make this stuff up,” said Monique Andrade who lives in the building where the blast happened.

Andrade said she is thankful she was not in her unit at the time of the explosion, but said neighbors had been smelling gas for days.

“We have heard the same thing and we are following up on that information,” said West Sacramento Fire Deputy Chief Mark Cullisoa.

West Sacramento Fire was the first to respond and quickly put out a grass fire that sparked at the empty lot across the street. They then searched for anyone inside the 14 units and rescued residents and pets from the rubble.

“Incidents at this scale are unusual,” said Cullisoa.

Fire crews and PG&E were spotted Sunday surveying the damage that people living at the low-income housing complex said was from a water heater explosion.

“We had minimal injuries, no one was transported out of this despite the severity of the damage,” said Cullisoa.

The American Red Cross was called in to help, but the property’s management did not have any answers for what accommodations they are offering the 34 people who no longer have a home at the low-income housing complex.

“These people don’t have resources,” said Andrade. “They don’t have resources to go rent their own hotel room, they don’t have resources to go live with family, this is kind of like their whole life.”

Crews put up a fence around the building where the heavy damage happened.

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