Five people were rescued from a smoke filled apartment building around 1:50 a.m. Tuesday morning. Firefighters were called to the 56th Street Lofts and Apartments at 5510 Shady Creek Court. They could see smoke coming from the building when they arrived.
The fire started on a second floor unit but due to the massive amount of smoke, other residents were unable to see their way to safety. LFR’s Nancy Crist says, “The fire was on the second story but some of the occupants rescued were from the third story. They used ground ladders to rescue those folks from the building.” One of those rescued was from the unit where the fire started and that person was on balcony when firefighters arrived. Firefighters also rescued a dog from the smoke filled building.
The cause was a pot unattended on a stove. Damage is estimated at $100,000. Four or five residents are displaced.
Christ says this is a good reminder that residents should know floor plans of their building and practice exit drills. You should always know of two exits to your building.