RODEO, Calif. (CBS) - Two adults and a 12-year-old child were taken to the hospital with minor injuries Tuesday morning after a gas explosion set an apartment building in Rodeo on fire, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District spokeswoman Emily Hopkins said.
The fire was reported at 1:25 a.m. in a two-story apartment building at 1304 Mariposa Ave. in unincorporated Rodeo, according to the Rodeo-Hercules Fire District.
The fire was initially reported as a possible rescue, but when firefighters arrived, everyone was already out of the building, which was engulfed in flames, Hopkins said.
Firefighters called for a second alarm and, fearing that the building would collapse, remained outside the structure to fight the fire, Hopkins said.
She said the fire appears to have been caused by a gas explosion that originated in a vacant apartment, but the cause of the explosion is still under investigation.
KCBS' Bob Melrose reports
The fire was under control by 2:15 a.m., but firefighters remained at the building until nearly 6 a.m. making sure no hot spots remained, according to Hopkins and the Rodeo-Hercules Fire District.
The structure sustained extensive damage and the American Red Cross was called to help five people who were displaced by the blaze, Hopkins said.
The Rodeo-Hercules Fire District received mutual aid assistance from the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, the Richmond Fire Department, the Pinole Fire Department and the Crockett-Carquinez Fire Department.
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