Late night incident keeps firefighters busy at local apartment complex.

by Jon Dell and Carol Rock

The clubhouse at the Promenade Apartments was destroyed Saturday night when a wall near a gas fire pit inside the structure burst into flames.

Fire officials reported that the call came in at 10:27 p.m., sending six stations and 40 firefighters to the scene to fight the fire.

The two-story, 10,000 square foot structure near the intersection of McBean Parkway and Magic Mountain Parkway burned unusually aggressively, causing the fire department spokesman to comment that they had surrounded the structure and are “in defense mode because of the intensity of the fire.”

According to Lt. Robert Lewis of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s station, the clubhouse had been rented out for a private party who had been using the fire pit when it began to spark and make strange noises. Lewis said the partygoers turned off the gas, but not too long afterward, the wall nearest the fire pit caught on fire and the building was evacuated.

There were no injuries reported and Lewis said the clubhouse was part of a pool/recreation center that was a distance from apartments, so no residences were damaged in the blaze.

Photo by Casey Sorgenstein