East El Paso apartment fire forces seven to evacuate

An apartment fire forced seven people to evacuate as the flames engulfed their porches Wednesday night at an East El Paso complex.

The fire started on the first floor of one of the units at about 10:15 p.m. at the La Estancia Apartments on the 7900 block of Viscount.

The fire began on a first floor porch and quickly extended to the kitchen and ceiling of that unit and the porch of the upstairs unit, fire department officials said.

Three people were inside the first floor unit and four people were upstairs. All seven safely exited the apartments, officials said.

Fire officials said both units had heavy smoke damage in the kitchen and living room areas.

Two people from each apartment were displaced by the fire but had a place

The cause of the fire is undetermined and the damages are estimated at $40,000 for both units combined, officials said.

Aaron Bracamontes may be reached at abracamontes@elpasotimes.com; 546-6156. Follow him on Twitter @AaronBrac.

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East El Paso apartment fire forces seven to evacuate