Crime & Safety

Cause of Milias Apartments Fire Still Being Investigated

Downtown fire Wednesday led to a total of $11,500 of damage, and the hospitalization of an elderly man.

A fire at one of the downtown Milias Apartments Wednesday afternoon caused $10,000 worth of property damage and led to the hospitalization of its 83-year-old resident. Two days later, its cause is still being investigated, according to Gilroy Fire Department Chief Dale Foster.

Gilroy’s three fire engines, as well as an engine from CalFire and a Rural/Metro Ambulance, came to the scene Wednesday at 5:35 pm and left at 8:05 pm after one engine and one hose line fully extinguished the fire.

“We responded with a number of units,” said Foster, adding that the department took extra caution due to the fire’s downtown location and vicinity to other apartments. “The amount of fire wasn’t actually that much.”

The apartment’s elderly resident was hospitalized due to disorientation from smoke inhalation, said Foster, but has since been released.

The scortched apartment, where $1,500 worth of personal property was also burned, has one-bedroom. The building it’s in boasts 47 studio apartments, and was built in 1922.

It sits next to the newly opened . Its patrons were allowed to continue dining during the blaze due to a built-in sprinkler system.


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