Victim identified in fatal Redwood City fire

Fire officials are investigating whether the blaze started in Demello-Pine’s apartment and have ruled out arson saying it was likely an accident, perhaps from cooking.

The building did not have sprinklers but an internal fire hose that firefighters never used.

Demello-Pine was initially unaccounted for after the building on the 500 block of Woodside Road was evacuated early Sunday morning.

Almost 40 hours after the fire was first reported, fire crews were still in the building knocking out windows and attending to hot spots as police diverted traffic away from the area.

Redwood City police, fire and officials with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating the fire that has left the 72-unit Hallmark House Apartments uninhabitable. The building has been red-tagged by the city.

Tuesday, former residents of the complex stood in line for a chance to recover any belongings remaining from the blaze.

Much of the third floor of the complex was completely destroyed by the fire and the rest of the building suffered major water and smoke damage.

About 25 residents were briefly hospitalized and another 61 were housed at the evacuation center at the Fair Oaks Community Center by the Red Cross following the fire.

The county’s mobile dental clinic also helped many fire victims get new dentures that were lost during the fire, said Ann Marie Silvestri, dental director at the San Mateo Medical Center. Many of the residents also have other dental needs that the mobile dental clinic assisted them with, she said.

silverfarb@smdailyjournal.com

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