BREAKING: Structure fire at The Terraces, fire out

November 20, 2023

A DeKalb firefighter walks around from the ladder truck to the front of The Terraces at DeKalb. A fire broke out around 10 p.m. Sunday at the apartment complex. (Sean Reed | Northern Star)

DeKALB – At around 10 p.m., a fire broke out at The Terraces at DeKalb apartment complex, 1100 W. Lincoln Highway, across from CVS.

The fire was extinguished before 11 p.m. Sunday.

DeKalb Fire Chief Michael Thomas said one resident is currently displaced, and neither firefighters nor residents of The Terraces have been injured.

“The damage was confined to one apartment,” Thomas said.

Onlookers saw smoke coming out of the west-facing windows of the apartment complex around 10 p.m. and called emergency services.

DeKalb firefighters adjust the fire truck’s water hose that is being brought inside. The fire was contained to a single unit, according to the DeKalb Fire Department. (Sean Reed | Northern Star) (Sean Reed)

Jake Donohoe, age 29, and manager of the Sonic on Lincoln Highway, said he called 911 after a customer told him they saw smoke coming out of the building.

“I was taking an order, and one of the customers came in to use the bathroom, and she was coming in, she interrupted me, she was like, ‘hey did you see that building’s on fire,’” Donohoe said. “I happened to just, like, take a peek where I can see from an angle from where I was at, saw smoke billowing. She was calling the police, and then I called 911.”

Residents of the The Terraces were seen evacuating the building and sitting in their cars.

“I looked out my living room window, and I just saw a ton of smoke,” said Brandi Salinas, a 21-year-old resident of the apartment complex. “So, I immediately ran out because I knew something wasn’t right. But all I found out was that there was a fire on the second floor, I’m up on the fourth floor.”