Fresno apartment fire displaces four families

A fire in central Fresno displaced four families from a four-plex apartment on Saturday.

The fire started at a single apartment on the 2700 block of West Fairmont Avenue, near Marks and Shaw avenues, around noon and started to spread to neighboring apartments, said Thomas Cope, Fresno fire battalion chief. A second alarm was called to allow the fire department to prevent the fire from spreading further.

Units responded quickly at 12:05 p.m. Eleven units with a total of 35 people responded to the blaze.

The fire destroyed one apartment, damaged two others and left one uninhabitable due to cutoff of gas and electricity.

The American Red Cross is offering lodging for a few days for the displaced families.

Cause of the fire is under investigation.

This story was originally published December 5, 2015 at 1:47 PM with the headline "Fresno apartment fire displaces four families."