Capitola Police said they are still investigating an apparent gas explosion and fire that rocked Capitola Village early Christmas morning, though they said the incident does not appear to be suspicious.
Three residents have been displaced from their homes, and some streets in the historic tourist destination were temporarily closed because the structure of the affected apartment building is compromised, police said in a statement.
The statement said that there were no injuries, but photos from the scene showed heavy damage to the small apartment building in the 100 block of Lawn Way, directly behind the El Toro Bravo restaurant on Monterey Avenue. Police said that two of the three displaced residents have been connected with the Red Cross for assistance.
Police and witnesses said the fire broke out at around 5:00 a.m. on Christmas Day. In social media posts, several people reported hearing a large explosion around the time that the fire broke out.
Several streets around the scene were closed for a time, but have since been reopened. Only the 100 block of Monterey Ave. remained closed as of Thursday afternoon as crews work to secure the building and restore utility service to nearby customers. Power was still out for more than 50 customers as of Friday afternoon, according to PG&E's online outage map.
