CHULA VISTA (CNS) - Two fires that broke out within a block of each other destroyed two trailers at a mobile home park and damaged at least two apartment units Monday morning in Chula Vista, authorities said.
A non-injury blaze broke out around 6:35 a.m. at a mobile home park in the 200 block of Broadway, Chula Vista Fire Battalion Chief Chris Manroe said.
Firefighters arrived and found one trailer fully engulfed and two adjacent trailers were beginning to catch fire, Manroe said.
As firefighters began battling the flames before they spread to other homes, they quickly ran into some challenges like the lack of fire hydrants located on the property.
“We had some difficulty with this fire because there is a lack of supply in this trailer park. We had to lay supply lines over a brick wall in back into an apartment complex and across road way,” said Manroe.
One resident told News 8, “this is the second fire they have had. This one is the worst.”
News 8 reached out the City of San Diego to find out why there are no hydrants on the property.
Council Member Jill Galvez of District 8 told News 8 the mobile home park is more than 50 years, and fire code when it was built may not have required fire hydrants.
Fire code does change every three years and changes affect future design and build requirements but are not retroactive.
“It bothers me greatly that there is no fire hydrant in that mobile home park. I am profoundly grateful no lives were lost,” said Galvez.
Crews knocked the flames down within 20 minutes, but two trailers were destroyed by the blaze and a third sustained damage to the outside of the unit, he said.
Then, emergency personnel at the scene of the first fire spotted smoke nearby and notified dispatchers around 7:15 a.m. that it was coming from the 200 block of Woodlawn Avenue, Manroe said.
Firefighters responded to the two-story apartment complex and found flames coming from at least two apartment units on the second floor.
Crews knocked down the flames around 8:35 a.m., a CVFD dispatcher said.
It was not immediately clear how many units were damaged or if anyone was injured by the second fire.
The causes of both fires were under investigation.
Chopper video show crews on scene of a massive fire that destroyed two trailers at a mobile home park early Monday morning in Chula Vista. (Mar. 18, 2019).
Facebook Video: Firefighters work to knock down an fire at an apartment complex in Chula Vista early Monday morning. (Mar. 18, 2019).