A fire engulfed second-floor residential units above a Mission Beach ice cream shop at dawn Tuesday, injuring two people — one seriously — while causing an estimated $600,000 worth of property losses.
The blaze erupted for unknown reasons about 6:50 a.m. in a rooftop storage area on the mixed-use building in the 700 block of Ventura Place, near Belmont Park, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
A city lifeguard at the nearby beach spotted the smoke and flames, ran over to the burning two-story building and knocked on residents’ doors, awakening them and telling them to evacuate, said SDFRD spokeswoman Monica Munoz.
It took firefighters about a half-hour to extinguish the flames.
Fire Tuesday morning #MissionBeach #Sandbar pic.twitter.com/4yn19c1z1O
— Peggy Peattie (@PeggyPeattie) October 16, 2018
Medics took a seriously injured resident to UCSD Medical Center in Hillcrest. Television news crews captured footage of emergency personnel performing CPR on the stricken man while rolling him to an ambulance in a stretcher.
A second person suffered minor injuries and declined transport to a hospital.
The two businesses beneath the fire-gutted residences — a Dreyer’s Ice Cream shop and Kojack’s, a small, casual restaurant — sustained water damage, Munoz said.
A city engineer was called in to assess the structural integrity of the building.
Investigators set the monetary losses at $500,000 to the building and $100,000 to contents.
Updated at 3:45 p.m. Oct. 16, 2018
— City News Service
