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Fire rips through Mission Beach mix-use building

A fire engulfed second-floor residential units above a Mission Beach ice cream shop at dawn Tuesday, injuring two people -- one seriously -- while causing an estimated $600,000 worth of property losse

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A fire engulfed second-floor residential units above a Mission Beach ice cream shop at dawn Tuesday, injuring two people -- one seriously -- while causing an estimated $600,000 worth of property losses.

The blaze erupted for unknown reasons about 6:50 a.m. in a rooftop storage area on the mixed-use building in the 700 block of Ventura Place, near Belmont Park, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.

A city lifeguard at the nearby beach spotted the smoke and flames, ran over to the burning two-story building and knocked on residents' doors, awakening them and telling them to evacuate, SDFRD spokeswoman Monica Munoz said.

VIDEO: Courtesy of News 8 viewer, Will Holland.

It took firefighters about a half-hour to extinguish the flames.

Medics took a seriously injured resident to UCSD Medical Center in Hillcrest. Television news crews captured footage of emergency personnel performing CPR on the stricken man while rolling him to an ambulance in a stretcher.

A second person suffered minor injuries and declined transport to a hospital.

The two businesses beneath the fire-gutted residences -- a Dreyer's Ice Cream shop and Kojack's, a small, casual restaurant -- sustained water damage, Munoz said.

A city engineer was called in to assess the structural integrity of the building.

Investigators set the monetary losses at $500,000 to the building and $100,000 to contents.

Buildings in Mission Beach are very close together and residents said they feared Tuesday's fire would spread. News 8's Kelly Hessedal reports from Mission Beach with what residents said. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story previously said the damage was around $2.75 million. San Diego Fire Department has since updated their numbers to show the fire caused $500,000 worth of damage to the building and an additional $100,000 worth of damage to the buildings contents totaling $600,000 worth of damage. 

Chopper 8 over structure fire in Mission Beach

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