Investigators Determine Blaze Wasn't Arson

Investigators have learned that Thursday's two-alarm blaze at an apartment complex in East Palo Alto was not intentionally set, a fire chief said this afternoon.

Firefighters responded to the fire at a multi-building complex on 1 Newell Court at about 6:05 p.m., Menlo Park Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman
said.

Arriving crews put out the fire a short time later and no one was injured, but more than 75 people were displaced by the fire and will have to find alternate housing for several weeks, Schapelhouman said.

"The fire was so hot in the corridors that it melted the smoke detectors," he said.

Schapelhouman said he spoke to a building manager, who said thework that needs to be done on the damaged units might take "some time."

In all, one unit burned in the fire, and another three to five units sustained significant water damage, he said.

Schapelhouman said the cause of the blaze appears accidental and that it was not maliciously set. A damage estimate was not immediately available.

--Bay City News