Devastating Upland apartment fire leaves tenants to piece together what comes next

May 6—As moving crews, safety inspectors and displaced tenants scoured through the remnants of The Courtyard at Upland on Wednesday, May 5, Sean Alves — who lost everything in Tuesday's devastating fire at the apartment complex — hung around the complex looking for his beloved cat, Kitty.

"The firefighter told me that the cat ran out of the building when they were here putting out the flames," Alves said. "She's a total indoor cat, she does not like outdoors so I'm worried about her — but she's been seen, so that's good."

Alves was receiving dialysis treatment on Tuesday afternoon when he heard the news of the blaze that ripped through his complex at 968 West 7th Street, significantly damaging more than 40 apartment units and displacing about 200 people. When he arrived back at his home of three years, Alves learned the fire had started just three units away from his.

"One kid that lives next door showed me several videos, and what do I see on it? I see a fireman's head popping out of my apartment," Alves said. "I knew right then there was nothing left."

"You see this stuff on the media all the time, but you never see it happen to you. It's devastating."

Fifty-four units were impacted by smoke, water or fire damage, the San Bernardino County Fire Department said Tuesday.

Tim Jones, building inspector with the City of Upland, said the horseshoe shaped building directly affected by the fire that broke out in its communal attic space was looking like a "total loss."

"It's a shame," Jones lamented. "People want to live in Upland and to have this happen is just a shame."

Jones spent most of Wednesday ensuring the complex's electricity was off and coordinating the next steps with the City of Upland and the apartment complex's management, Macroreal Commercial Inc. Some of these include hiring security for the decimated building and getting a fence around the property.

An adjacent building on the complex was not damaged in Tuesday's fire and Jones said the property managers and city officials were working to make that building habitable again.

Some residents and their families spent the day hauling out surviving items such as furniture, suitcases and bags of clothing. While some of the lower units were not burned by the fire, water and smoke damage wreaked havoc on their personal items.

Ghasem Farahani, a seven-year resident at the complex, said that he and his wife's unit was heavily damaged by smoke and water. He said that he had spent between $12,000 to $15,000 on new furniture and appliances in the last month.

"It all has water damage and the smoke — it's useless," Farahani said.

Farahani's wife was home in their downstairs apartment when the fire broke out on Tuesday around 2:45 p.m. She was alerted when a maintenance worker came knocking on every door in the complex.

The American Red Cross has provided the displaced tenants with temporary lodging at a local hotel. It was unclear how long the American Red Cross would provide temporary shelter for the residents for.

"We all know how difficult it is for us to find a place (in Upland) — two or three days is impossible, let alone a week," Farahani said.

Alves said that he will likely live with a friend after the lodging from the American Red Cross is no longer available. With the task of finding a new apartment looming in the interim, Alves was grateful that nobody was hurt or killed in the fire.

"I've just been trying to figure things out step by step," Alves said. "You know, when something like this happens, you don't know what is the first step to take, so you've just got to try and piece it together."

Neither Farahani nor Alves had renters insurance. Farahani said that he was never encouraged by the apartment's property management to purchase his own policy while Alves said it was not something he thought he would ever need.

California does not have any laws requiring renters insurance, but some landlords may require it for tenants to live in their building, according to Nationwide Insurance. It was unclear if the apartment's property management required it for tenants or not.

San Bernardino County Fire Department officials said the cause of the fire remained under investigation. A dollar amount of the damage caused by the fire wasn't immediately available.

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