A Vernon apartment was gutted, and dozens of residents were left homeless, after a fire officials are calling suspicious. The complex in the 35 hundred block of 25th Avenue next to Lincoln Lanes caught fire just after four AM, and quickly spread to the four units. The 17 occupants, which included six children, got out safely but resident Amanda Fitzpatrick says the damage was extensive. "Me and my neighbors just lost everything, everything we had but everyone got out safe and that's what's most important." A resident who gave only his first name, Anthony, says they didn't have much time to think. "I heard a banging on the door. A neighbor was saying, 'The house is engulfed in flames, everybody get out', so I rounded up the kids and got out." Deputy fire chief Lawrie Skolrood says the cause is under investigation and police are also involved. "It appears right now the fire was an outside fire that engulfed the whole back side of the building. There's a lot of fuel load back there so it's been carried in a number of ways but it certainly is suspicious." He says its the second fire in the last six days in the same area and same location on the building. "That always raises some flags." Skolrood says it appears to have started outside the building. The residents will stay at a local hotel for three days under the emergency program, and then will have to find new homes. Photo: Firefighters sift through the remains at the back of an apartment complex that was gutted in a blaze Saturday morning (P. McIntyre photo)
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