One injured, many homeless after Red Bank fire

Friday, July 12, 2013

photo Firemen work to put out a blaze at Chalet Apartments at 4103 Dayton Boulevard in Red Bank this afternoon. The apartment complex is located just north of the Dayton Boulevard and Ashland Terrace intersection. Added information wasn't available.

Six to eight units at Chalet Apartments, 4103 Dayton Blvd. in Red Bank are either damaged or destroyed after a fire broke out Friday afternoon, Hamilton County emergency officials said. Several others sustained water and smoke damage.

One unnamed female resident was taken to area hospitals with minor burns. No other injuries occurred.

Twenty-four families were left homeless after the blaze.

Meredith Atwood, resident at Chalet, is one of those tenants and said Friday her unit has holes in the roof above the bedroom and bathroom. She said she lives around two units down from where the fire originated.

"I didn't see the fire start," Atwood said, "but I heard someone yell and heard the sirens ... I heard a guy yell, 'Get out! Get out! There's a fire!'" She said she grabbed her purse and fled the building.

An unnamed resident of the apartments noticed "heavy smoke coming from the third floor" while swimming at the complex's pool, Amy Maxwell, Hamilton County emergency services public information officer, said in a news release Friday afternoon. Residents afterward worked to alert everyone inside the building to get out.

Atwood said currently, she plans to live with a friend until a permanent solution is available. She said Chalet management told tenants they can move things out on Monday. She is unsure whether she'll stay at Chalet or check out other options.

"It's probably going to be a couple of months until I can get back in," Atwood said. "I may get another apartment here or may look for something somewhere else."

Maxwell said several area fire departments responded to the scene and between 80 to 100 firefighters were on hand to work the blaze. Friday evening, the cause of the blaze was unknown.

Atwood praised the firefighters who responded Friday.

"[They] did a great job containing it," she said, while they "did the least amount of damage possible." She said fire personnel took special care to save personal items in her apartment where they were forced to break down a wall.

Maxwell said the American Red Cross was on the scene Friday afternoon to aid families temporarily displaced by the fire.