Apartment blaze results in $4,000 worth of damage

By Sean Noble

DeKalb firefighters and police evacuated all five floors of DeKalb Plaza Apartment building B, 1325 Lincoln Hwy., Monday evening after a fire causing $4,000 worth of damage broke out on the top floor.

DeKalb Fire Chief Jeff Long said DeKalb police responded to the call of a fire in Apt. 512 at about 6:30 p.m.

He said that when firefighters arrived at the scene moments later, police were trying to evacuate apartment residents as a safety measure.

“The police did originally get on the fifth floor of the building (where the fire was),” Long said.

Police had immediately evacuated fifth floor residents, “but had to leave themselves because of the smoke.”

Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the one apartment, Long said, and firefighters had the fire under control by 6:55 p.m.

No injuries resulted from the blaze.

After extinguishing the fire, firefighters broke windows out of the burned-out apartment and set up fans to get rid of the smoke.

About 10 minutes later, residents of the first through fourth floors were allowed to return to their rooms.

Although Long ultimately called the fire “relatively minor,” he said it was potentially dangerous because of the heavy smoke that filled the fifth floor.

Several Plaza residents said they did not believe anyone was in the room at the time of the fire, but Long attributed the fire’s cause to cigarette smoking in the room.

Assistant Fire Chief David Walker said fifth floor residents could return to their apartments after conditions were “under control and an investigation has been conducted.”