Over a dozen residents and families lost their homes overnight after a raging fire tore through an apartment complex in Rialto, ultimately destroying every unit in the building, officials said. The blaze erupted around 5:15 p.m. at a 16-unit complex on the 1000 block of South Cactus Avenue, just south of Bloomington Avenue, according to the Rialto Fire Department.
When the first firefighters arrived, they saw smoke pushing from the roof — the first sign that flames were already racing through the shared attic space above multiple apartments. “Crews made an aggressive interior attack, but the fire had already taken off in the attic,” said Rialto Fire Capt. Jake Ploehn.
“It started turning into a catch-up game.” Within minutes, firefighters requested a second alarm. As the fire intensified and rapidly spread laterally across the building, crews escalated to a 3rd and eventually 4th alarm, bringing in mutual aid from San Bernardino County Fire, Loma Linda, Colton and San Manuel fire departments. Video obtained by KTLA shows intense flames shooting through the collapsed roofline of the complex as heavy smoke billows into the night sky.
