MIDDLETOWN, Ohio (WKRC) - Emergency crews were dispatched at 10:52 Monday morning to a building in part of the Olde Towne Apartments complex on Park Lane in Middletown.
About 50 to 60 firefighters from 14 different agencies from Butler and Warren counties responded. Assistant Middletown Fire Chief Tom Snively says about 15 to 20 apartments are involved.
The fire fan through the attic and crews had to focus on preventing it from spreading to nearby buildings.
"When we got here, the fire was already in the attic above the second floor and it ran that attic pretty quickly. We were able to cut off the fire at the firewalls inside the building," Snively said.
Michelle Ricardez, who lives in the building next door, got a call from her son while she was working about the fire.
"We have two cats and a dog and my daughter-in-law, who's pregnant, and that I needed to get home because they were evacuating," Ricardez said.
Ricardez rushed to their apartment.
"I found my son and my daughter-in-law and everything was fine, but I went around the front and saw the flames still going high," Ricardez said.
Snively says there are no reports of anyone being hurt and no firefighters were injured. Investigators have a general idea of an apartment of origin but no cause yet.
Firefighters and police officers helped knock on doors to evacuate people.
"The police were a huge help to us in the evacuation of the buildings. Everybody complied; we had no problems there. As far as a headcount on the evacuation, I really don't have one, but like I said, there's 15, 20 apartments involved. So, it was quite a big task to get everyone involved out," Snively said.
The building where the fire started has 14 to 15 apartments that are significantly damaged. Some nearby units are also damaged from smoke.
Firefighters started with an offensive fire attack and sending firefighters inside, but the fire was spreading through the attic.
"Once we realized it was running that attic space above, the fireman that were working inside, we decided it was not safe for them to be in there. So, we evacuated everybody out," Snively said.
Crews attacked from the outside using water from ladder trucks. There is no sprinkler system in the building, but they are were not required when it was built.
Neighbors were urged to stay inside with their windows shut because of how much smoke was in the area.
Everyone affected is being helped by the Red Cross.
There is no word on how much damage, or the exact number of people involved.
