Port Hueneme apartment fire put out before anyone was hurt

Just five weeks after a Port Hueneme apartment fire left a father and son dead, another apartment fire broke out.

It started after 2 a.m., on Saturday at a complex on the 400 block of E. Clara St.

Ventura County Fire Capt. Marisol Rodriguez said crews evacuated about 50 people and attacked the fire from the roof.

They had the flames out within 30 minutes, but damage to at least two of the units displaced four people.

Enrique Gonzales called for help and managed to video some of the flames.

Monique Wallace reminded her youngest daughter how important it is to stay calm.

Together they knocked and kicked doors to wake people up and to urge them to get out.

Wallace, who moved to Port Hueneme from Santa Barbara, said fire damaged items can be replaced, while people cannot.

Two nights before the fire she went to a memorial in Los Angeles for her daughter Meagan Hockaday who died in an officer involved shooting during a domestic disturbance in Oxnard two years ago.

Although officers were cleared of wrongdoing many social justice marches are still being held in her honor.

Wallace said her family has been through a lot.

The Red Cross was on hand to help people find places to stay until fire crews allow most of them back into their apartments.

Crews from Ventura County, Oxnard and Naval Base Ventura County helped put the fire out. They have a new collaboration plan that makes them respond as a team.

Investigators are trying to figure out what started the fire.