A fire tore through a two-story apartment building in Imperial Beach early Wednesday morning, killing one person and injuring another before firefighters could get the flames under control. The blaze broke out around 3 a.m. at 721 12th St., according to officials, and left residents scrambling out into the dark as crews responded.
One person died and another was injured, according to NBC 7 San Diego, which cited Imperial Beach Fire Chief John French. Both victims were transported to the hospital, where one was pronounced dead, the station reported.
Fire Confined to Bottom Floor, Chief Says
The flames broke out on the apartment building's bottom floor and were contained to a single unit, per the same account attributed to French. Residents were evacuated from the building early Wednesday morning as the fire was brought under control.
The report did not include further details about the conditions or identities of those hospitalized. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, the station noted, and no additional information has been released about what sparked the blaze.
Imperial Beach's History With Fatal Apartment Fires
Wednesday's fire is not the first time a deadly blaze has struck an Imperial Beach apartment complex. A second-alarm fire at a building on the 500 block of 7th Street in January 2022 killed one person and temporarily displaced at least 10 residents, according to Times of San Diego. That fire broke out around 5:20 a.m. at the five-unit complex near Cherry Avenue, and the Sheriff's Department Bomb and Arson Unit was called in to investigate, FOX 5 San Diego reported at the time.
A separate Imperial Beach apartment fire covered by FOX 5 displaced seven people and sent two others to the hospital, underscoring how often fires in the beach town's older apartment stock have forced residents out of their homes and, in some cases, proven fatal.
No cause has been determined for Wednesday's fire, and officials have not released the identities of the two people who were hospitalized. This is a developing story, and further updates are expected as investigators continue their work.
