This is the 12th fire in this neighborhood just in the last couple of months. There used to be another small apartment building on Ashland and 11th, but it burned down. Now arson investigators are looking into this latest fire.
"Oh man, it was scary," said fire victim Eliud Limon.
Limon says he will never forget what he saw in the stairwell to his apartment.
"When I opened my door, I saw the smoke was coming from the stairs," he said.
Limon and his two buddies barely escaped the fire.
"All the smoke was coming up and we got up," he said. "I heard an explosion."
The unit next door is vacant and arson investigators are adding this to a long list of fires under investigation in this neighborhood. They were on the scene throughout the morning, checking out the building and talking to neighbors.
Eyewitness News talked to neighbor Antonio Quintania, who told us about the other small apartment building which used to also be on the lot. Fire after fire destroyed it.
"Over and over and over, we're talking about like five times," said Quintania. P> Every night, he fears the same thing will happen at his house.
"We can't sleep very well," he said. "We're scared if we don't feel nothing, we don't wake up the next day."
Nearby neighbors are all wondering if they will be the next victims. One neighbor says she sleeps by the front door.
The official cause for today's fire hasn't been released.
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