Apartment fire blamed on construction project

SAN DIEGO Exploding vapors from a bathtub refinishing project caused the fire Saturday in a two-story, 28-unit apartment building on Point Loma that sent three people to a hospital for treatment, firefighters said Sunday.

The Chatsworth Boulevard apartment fire was caused by ignitable vapors, said San Diego Fire-Rescue spokesman Lee Swanson. The bathtub was being refinished and vapors were ignited by electrical equipment used by the refinisher. He was taken to the hospital with burns.

Swanson said a San Diego police officer suffered from smoke inhalation and was hospitalized. Another woman in the apartment complex was also taken to a hospital for treatment after complaining of dizziness and shortness of breath.

The police officer was released from the hospital after being treated, San Diego Police officer Dan Lasher said.

A total of 60 firefighters responded to the two-alarm fire and took about 20 minutes to knock it down, Swanson said.

The Red Cross assisted 20 to 25 people displaced by the fire to find temporary housing.

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Apartment fire blamed on construction project