Fire rips through apartment complex in Rialto displacing families before holiday

A fire ripped through an apartment complex in Rialto on Friday night, leaving families displaced before the Thanksgiving holiday.

The San Bernardino County Fire Protection District said that several of their units, along with others from the City of Colton Fire, Rancho Cucamonga Fire District, Yuhaaviatam, assisted the Rialto Fire Department in battling a four-alarm fire on the 1000 block of Cactus Avenue.

The blaze broke out around 7 p.m. and quickly spread through the 16-unit apartment complex after a north wind rapidly pushed flames through the structure, the San Bernardino County Fire said.

Fire crews launched an aggressive, coordinated attack and worked through "challenging conditions to contain the blaze to the building of origin," officials said.

Assistance from the American Red Cross was also requested to support families that had been displaced. A temporary shelter has been established at Simpson Elementary School, located at 1050 S. Cactus Avenue, where families can access meals, counseling and other necessities. 

No injuries were reported during the incident. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. 

Approximately 73 people were forced to evacuate, including Elizabeth Gomez's family. Gomez had given birth to a baby boy five days before the fire started. 

"I started crying," she said. "It's not the materialistic things. It's the memories."