[Updated 7:43 a.m.] Â An early morning Sunday two-alarm apartment building fire in the 500 block of North Hill Ave. caused by a malfunctioning heater forced almost three dozen residents to endure bitter cold as firefighters knocked down the blaze.
Fire Dept. spokesperson Lisa Derderian said that 35 people were evacuated as emergency crews from Pasadena and San Marino battled the 1:48 a.m. fire.
Derderian said the Pasadena Police Dept. rolled out its mobile command center to shelter two families with young children in the frigid outdoor temperatures at the the location.
14 apartment units were involved in the fire, Derderian reported, and two were left uninhabitable.
The Red Cross will assist with housing three adults and one child who are displaced, she said. The Salvation Army and Southern California Gas Company dispatched units as well.
Damage was estimated by the Fire Dept. to be $300,000 to the structure and $75,000 to contents.