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Vikki Vargas
Firefighters responded to a three-alarm fire at the Villa Regina Apartments in Anaheim at 1:44 p.m. Friday. The fire was under control in 30 minutes, but four units were completely destroyed and other nearby buildings also sustained damage. A resident says the blaze began in her kitchen. Vikki Vargas reports from Anaheim for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on August 3, 2012.
A three-alarm fire burned several units Friday afternoon at an apartment complex in Anaheim.
The fire occurred at the Villa Regina Apartments at 3523 W. Savanna Street. (map), starting just before 1:45 p.m. No injuries were reported.
Aerial video showed smoke billowing from several blackened, burned-out units at the two-story complex. The complex was on a on block densely packed with other buildings.
"I saw windows shattering, flames everywhere -- going from one apartment to another to another," said resident Jennifer Pascual. "It was horrible."
Evacuees are being sent to nearby Orange View Junior High School at 3175 W. Orange Ave. (map)
Resident Asia Stiger said she was about to cook something on her stove when the fire started.
"It was the stove," she said, sobbing. "It blew up. ... All the grease went all over the stove and, automatically, the fire just came. ... It was like a woosh of red fire."
Evacuations for the 55 residents of the 15-unit building were ordered, according to Anaheim Fire Marshal Jeff Lutz.
Several families were outside on the sidewalk with their pets. Some neighbors donated items to the residents -- with one woman even giving the shoes on her own feet to a apartment resident who ran out wiht nothing.
Four apartments in one building were completely destroyed and four others sustained smoke and water damage, according to Lutz. Two units is a neighboring building were also damaged.
NOTE: An earlier version of this story gave the incorrect name and address for the apartment complex.
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