Thread: Coming soon to a neighborhood near you...

Santa Cruz Sentinel
June 4 2008

Watsonville

Kitchen fire displaces 34

A small electrical fire in the kitchen of a Rodriguez Street house caused a power surge that damaged several nearby apartments and left 34 residents homeless Tuesday, Watsonville Fire Battalion Chief Chris Johnson said.

Firefighters responded to a stove fire at 620 Rodriguez St. around 3:30 p.m. and quickly quelled the blaze, "but there was a power surge that affected four other units that are connected to the
power supply up the street," Johnson said. The wiring of electrical appliances in all of the units started to melt, he said.

The wiring on the property was "not up to par," Johnson said., though he added he wasn't sure if it failed to meet code or if some other problem was to blame. The fire did not cause significant damage to any of the structures in the five-plex, the fire department reported.

PG&E shut down the units until the property owner repairs the damage. The American Red Cross is helping the displaced the residents -- about 21 adults and 13 children -- find emergency housing, according to Johnson.

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_947 ... ost_viewed

thirty four divided by four is 8+ people per apartment...Gross!