Aug 18, 2008 11:24 am US/Pacific
2nd Victim In Vallejo Senior Home Fire Dies
VALLEJO (BCN) ―
Vallejo interim Fire Chief Russ Sherman said Monday that a second resident of the Casa de Vallejo senior housing complex that burned Friday has passed away in a hospital.
Sherman said the elderly man died either late Sunday night or early Monday morning. The Solano County coroner's office said it has not yet received the fire victim's body and cannot confirm the death. The victim suffered critical injuries in the fire and was taken to a hospital Friday, Sherman said.
The body of another elderly man, a World War II veteran, was found in the burned building at 1825 Sonoma Blvd. around 4:30 p.m. Friday. His name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin but an autopsy was conducted Monday morning, the coroner's office said.
Sherman said the fire started on the sixth floor in Room 606 where the first victim lived. The second victim lived in an adjacent room, Sherman said.
The cause of the fire will be likely be released Tuesday after fire investigators confer with the coroner's office, Sherman said.
The eight-alarm fire was reported around 3:40 a.m. and was controlled at 9:52 a.m., Sherman said. Fire crews were at the scene until 8 p.m. Friday and fire investigators were there Saturday and Sunday, Sherman said. They don't yet have a damage estimate, Sherman said.
The American Red Cross was to open a shelter at 11 a.m. Monday at the Florence Douglas Senior Center at 333 Amador St. to assist the more than 100 residents who were displaced by the fire. The shelter will remain open until 3 p.m., Red Cross spokeswoman Melanie Sanders said.
The Red Cross and the Solano County Department of Health and Social Services will help find long-term housing and replace necessary items destroyed by the fire, Sanders said.
The Red Cross operated an evacuation center at the First Baptist Church Friday to offer victims a place to rest, as well as food, health services including prescription replacement, and counseling, Sanders said.
The Red Cross closed the evacuation center Friday evening after all residents were placed in alternative assisted-living facilities or were placed in nearby hotels by Logan Property Management of San Diego, which owns Casa de Vallejo, Sanders said.
Displaced residents and their family members can contact the Red Cross for assistance at (888) 600-5828.
Anyone interested in helping the displaced residents should call (888) 4-HELP-Bay or visit www.redcrossbayarea.org, Sanders said.
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