Tenants keep fire at bay with fire extinguishers in Santa Maria apartment complex

Tenants at a Santa Maria apartment complex managed to keep a fire at bay until firefighters arrived on scene with the use of eight extinguishers.

The fire was reported around 12:30 p.m. on the 300 block of East Enos Drive.

Investigators haven’t determined the cause yet, but they say the fire started outside on a patio.

The fire flared up and burned the patio roof and the bottom of an upstairs apartment. That’s when tenants of the apartment complex intervened.

Tenants used eight fire extinguishers to bat down the flames until the Santa Maria Fire Department arrived. Thanks to their intervention, the fire was kept from spreading to the inside of the apartments.

Santa Maria firefighters finished off the fire in a matter of minutes.

One person injured their hand while breaking the glass to get one of the fire extinguishers.