ARCADIA >> A woman was hospitalized in critical condition after firefighters pulled her from her burning apartment Friday night, officials said.
The fire ignited about 9:30 p.m. in a second-floor unit of a large, two-story apartment complex in the 900 block of West Huntington Drive, Arcadia Fire Department Battalion Chief Barry Spriggs said.
“The unit of origin was charged with smoke throughout, with fire burning freely from the bedroom window,” Arcadia fire officials said in a written statement.
Firefighters called a “second alarm” as they battled the flames in the apartment, which was set back 800 feet from the street toward the rear of the large apartment complex, Spriggs said.
They found an unconscious woman, estimated to be in her 50s, inside the burning apartment, officials said. She appeared to have suffered burns as well as smoke inhalation and was taken to the Methodist Hospital in Arcadia in critical condition.
The injured woman was believed to be the lone resident of the apartment, Spriggs said. No other injuries were reported.
Firefighters extinguished the fire in about 20 minutes, Spriggs said, managing to keep it confined to a single unit. The involved apartment was scorched throughout.
Investigators determined the fire ignited in the apartment’s bedroom and was accidental, according to the fire department statement. Specific details regarding the cause of the fire were not available.
Officials estimated the blaze caused $80,000 worth of damage to the apartment and its contents.
Police initially helped evacuate many residents from the building, but only the apartments adjacent to the one that caught fire remained uninhabitable late Friday night, Arcadia police Sgt. Dan Crowther said.
The Red Cross was summoned to help find temporary lodging for one resident displaced overnight.
Firefighters from Pasadena, Monrovia and Los Angeles County helped the Arcadia Fire Department douse the flames.