Fire Chief Updates Residents on Dana Garden Fire

Updated at 9:05 p.m. with statements new statements from fire chief.

During a second late-night briefing at , MVFD Chief Brad Wardle gave a status update to the residents, all from building 'C,' .

He said apartments 55 to 59 "were completely destroyed by the fire," that began at 3:25 p.m. tonight.

"I'm very sorry," he said sincerely. "It stings and it's horrible, I know that."

Several of the families, still at the school, remained calm.

Wardle explained to the families that at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning, the affected families can meet at the school to be escorted back to the building to see what they can salvage.

"Unfortunately, the building is structurally unsound that you may not be able to get into the apartments," he said.

"Everything is burned," he explained about the five units. "From top to bottom."

Wardle continued with the assessment:

• Units 53 and 54 suffered 50 percent damage
• Units 60 and 61 suffered smoke and water damage
• Units 68 to 72 only water damage
• All the other units will remain locked.

According to the chief, they do not know where the fire started and will not speculate about this at this time. Palo Alto Fire, Moffett Field Fire, Sunnyvale Fire and Santa Clara County Fire provided mutual aid. The Santa Clara County and Mountain View investigators were on the scene, according to Spokeswoman Jaime Garrett.

Spokesman Lynn Brown shared that out of the 26 units, the fire department made contact with residents of 21 of them. "The others weren't home or could be on vacation."

"I know this is hard, but you still have each other and are still alive," Wardle said. "I've been doing this for 25 years and I'm really happy that no one was injured."

Any residents affected by the fire may contact the Red Cross at 877-727-6771 for assistance.

For more news about Mountain View follow us on Twitter and "like" us on Facebook.

Get Patched in daily! Sign up for our newsletter.