Fire Chief: Half Of Families Burned Out Of Apartment Building Could Return Home Tonight

Update: Theresa Fire Chief Mark Savage said Friday that half of the families who were forced to evacuate their apartments due to fire could return to their homes by Friday evening.

He said village code officials are going through the building with the landlord and that only one apartment is considered unlivable.

Savage said county investigators determined a grease fire started the blaze.

He said the Red Cross placed three families in local motels for the night and offered food and clothing vouchers for other victims.

Our earlier report:

At least 15 people were forced to evacuate their apartments Thursday afternoon after a fire broke out in the Jefferson County village of Theresa.

Volunteers from 11 departments were able to contain the blaze to a single apartment in the building at 212 Main Street.

Officials said the apartment was destroyed.

Several other apartments were damaged enough to keep residents from returning to their homes.

Witnesses reported seeing smoke pouring from the building before firefighters arrived.

After firefighters doused the flames, they looked for hot spots and wouldn’t let tenants return to their homes.

Firefighters say it started as a kitchen fire in a ground floor apartment.

Soon smoke was spreading to other apartments.

The Theresa fire chief said his team’s familiarity with the building helped volunteers contain the fire.

“We had a very good hit on it. Probably another 20 minutes to a half an hour, if this would have been in the middle of the night, it probably would have been a major fire,” said Fire Chief Mark Savage.

The tenant in the smoke-filled apartment warned neighbors, and just about everybody was able to get out on their own.

Firefighters did help one disabled tenant get out of the building.

They even rescued Susan Goodnough’s cat, Miss Kitty.

“I’m in heaven. I love my baby,” said Goodnough.

Some people told 7 News they have family members they can stay with for a little while, but for others, they’re relying on the Red Cross because many of them live on fixed incomes.

Firefighters said, for now, the building is uninhabitable.

There is no water or power, and they don’t know how long it will be until tenants can go home.

The building is reportedly the site of an old hardware store.

It’s located behind the site of the Getman Hotel, which was destroyed by fire in 2003.

See Jessica Cain’s 11 p.m. report:

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See Alexandra Field’s 6 p.m. report:

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