Overview

• The June 23 blast at the 44-unit Garden Valley/Rainbow Terrace complex left five people hospitalized with severe burns and caused an estimated $3.5 million in damage.
• Fire spread through a void space under the building’s false roof, driving residents to lower children from windows and tie bedsheets together to escape.
• Crews from 22 companies and more than 60 firefighters extinguished the blaze without injuries and disconnected gas lines before investigators moved in.
• Over 100 residents remain displaced, with the American Red Cross operating a temporary shelter and working with the housing authority on longer-term placements.
• Investigators are focusing on neighbors’ reports of a persistent gas odor and residents’ complaints about missed inspections as they probe the cause.