Press release from the Arcata Fire District:

On Wednesday, April 24 at 12:46 P.M., the Arcata Fire District was alerted to a multi-family structure fire on the 4000 block of Valley East Blvd.

The first of Arcata Fire’s engines arrived on scene to find a two-story apartment building with smoke alarms sounding and smoke coming out of the window of the bottom-right apartment.

Firefighters made entrance to the apartment building and began searching for any occupants. No occupants were inside the apartment, and the source of the fire was contained to one bedroom. The fire was then promptly extinguished.

After investigation, the fire was determined to be accidental in nature. Due to the loss of property and belongings, the occupants were given a SAVE card. SAVE is a program of the California Fire Foundation that provides immediate, short term relief to victims of fire or other natural disaster.

This is a perfect example of smoke alarms activating and functioning properly. The neighbors heard the alarms sounding, smelled the smoke and called 911.

Arcata Fire would like to urge residents to check that their smoke alarms are functioning properly by testing them on a monthly basis – just press that ‘test’ button.

Arcata Fire District would like to thank Blue Lake Fire District, Humboldt Bay Fire and CalFire for responding, and Samoa Peninsula Fire District for covering AFD’s stations during the call.