Five people were rescued from burning apartments in a complex on Mills Park Drive in Rancho Cordova this evening.
Assistant Chief Scott Cockrum of the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District said the fire was reported about 7 p.m. in second-story apartments in the approximately 30-unit complex.
When firefighters arrived, he said, a grandmother with three children was on an apartment balcony screaming, "Save my babies. Save my babies." He said a passerby rescued the children, who were handed down from the balcony.
He said firefighters then rescued the grandmother and a woman from a neighboring apartment, where the fire had started. Cockrum said that woman was unable to get out of her apartment through the front door because of the fire and she climbed from her balcony to the neighboring balcony where she was rescued.
The fire was brought under control and investigators were on scene. Although the cause has not been determined, Cockrum said it is not believed to be of suspicious origin.
Four units were damaged, affecting five adults and six children. Cockrum said apartment managers and the Red Cross were arranging housing for the displaced tenants.
Firefighters also responded to a second residential fire this evening, in a single-family home at La Sierra Drive and San Ramon Way in the Arden Park area. The home was fully involved and it was initially feared that the occupants, an elderly couple, were inside. Cockrum said is was determined that the couple was not at home, but two animals died in the fire.
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