Apartment fire temporarily displaces 18 San Mateo residents

SAN MATEO, Calif. (KGO) -- Eighteen people are being kept out of their homes this morning after a three-alarm apartment fire in San Mateo. Everybody escaped, but several pets were killed.

The fire started in an apartment. It's destroyed, but firefighters were able to stop the flames from doing any more damage.

A charred mess shows the financial loss at the Villa Del Prado apartment complex on La Selva Street in San Mateo.

"She had like 30 birds. She had cockatoos and love birds and parakeets and fishes and cats. She kept them real clean. She loved her animals. She kept them all clean. That was her hobby, but it's all gone," said Tammy Hill, fire victim

Cell phone video from a neighbor shows just how intense the flames were at around 5:15 Friday morning. Firefighters called for three-alarms. They overwhelmed the flames with water and kept it from spreading to the six other units.

"That's really a credit to our firefighting crews. The quicker we can get water on it. We can reduce damage not only to the fire unit but to the extension as well," said San Mateo Fire Department Batt. Chief Gary Hegwer.

A couple and their 5-year-old granddaughter initially told firefighters a smoke alarm woke them up.

Both adults complained of smoke inhalation and eye irritation. The man was taken to the hospital. The woman was evaluated at the scene.

All of the victims are expected to recover. After all this loss that's something that helps them move forward.

"Everything is gone, but everybody made it out okay. That's all that matters, right?" said Hill.

Firefighters are investigating the cause of the fire. The residents in the rest of the apartment complex will be allowed back in once the power and gas are turned back on.