Hermosa Beach firefighters last Sunday night put out a blaze gutting an apartment inside a two-story complex located in the 700 block of Monterey Boulevard.

Hermosa Beach Fire Capt. Brian Scott said no one was injured in the fire ignited by a lit candle left unattended inside the unit.

“Candles left unsupervised have been an ongoing problem for us,” said Scott. “Even lit candles where people are inside the home sitting in another room have been the cause of fires because of things like hanging curtains or other materials. We recently put out a bathroom fire that started this way.” 

Although the fire caused no structural damage to the complex, it did destroy the apartment’s interior with an estimated property loss of $30,000. The fire also burned personal contents valued at $10,000.

Firefighters received the emergency call at 6:35 p.m. and arrived on the scene minutes later.

The apartment complex sits on the east side of Monterey Boulevard and contains five units.

Approximately 15 firefighters from the cities of Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach responded to the call.

“Fire engine companies from both cities assisted us with the fire,” said Scott. “We had a company from Torrance cover our station and a company from El Segundo cover a station in Manhattan Beach.”

Firefighters entered the apartment and extinguished the fire from inside. It took firefighters 10 minutes from the time they answered the call to the time they put out the blaze.

Fortunately, the tenants who live at the residence, Alvin and Jennifer Shaffer, have insurance. The couple were married this past year and had recently moved into the apartment.

They returned to Hermosa Beach this past weekend after visiting family in Louisiana for the holidays. Jennifer had propped a mattress against the living room wall to be used by friends who were visiting.

She lit the candle and walked across the street to Granny’s market to buy a sandwich. She noticed her apartment on fire as she left the store.

“Before I went across the street, I thought to myself I should blow out the candle but I was only going to be gone for a few minutes,” said Jennifer.

Shaffer called the Fire Department, and then ran inside her apartment and rescued her two cats.

According to investigators, the mattress, like most others, was lined with foam rubber which is extremely flammable when exposed to open flames. The fire’s temperature was so intense that it melted the television.

The fire burned most of everything inside the apartment but spared the couple’s scrapbooks and wedding photos.

“Modern materials like couch pillows and mattresses contain foam rubber, and they will burn like crazy,” added Scott. “These materials contain foam rubber to be fire-resistant and they are in the case of a person dropping a cigarette, but when you place these items in an open fire, it’s like lighting a block of gasoline.”