Firefighters Rescue Several People From Burning Building In Millville, New Jersey
MILLVILLE, N.J. (CBS) - Millville firefighters rescued tenants trapped in their apartments in a burning building overnight. The two-alarm fire started around midnight Monday in a three-story building on North High Street.
When firefighters arrived on the scene, they saw smoke coming from an apartment on the third floor. The Millville fire chief says the fire spread quick enough that they had to sound a second alarm.
Inside the building, they battled heavy flames and smoke, leaving them no choice but to call in the ladder company to lower people to safety through third-story windows.
The Millville fire chief says he's proud of how quickly his crews worked to control this fire and save the tenants who were trapped inside.
"Heavy fire conditions in the hallway outside multiple apartments. They stretched the line to the third floor and made a push, started knocking the fire down. The ladder company came in right behind them, extended their ladder. Crews got up there, got four out of this window right up here behind me and got them down to safety. So a great job by everyone involved," Millville Fire Department Chief Michael Lippincott said.
The fire chief says five people were taken to the hospital with minor burns and smoke inhalation.
Seven tenants total are now displaced.
The Red Cross is helping those displaced tenants find temporary shelter.
The cause of the fire is still unknown and remains under investigation.
