‘We probably lost everything.’ Lexington apartment fire leaves units uninhabitable
A Lexington family expressed a bit of relief Friday when their cats emerged alive from the ruins of a burnt-up apartment. The cats were one of the few belongings the family didn’t lose.
Katelynne Rowe’s said she and her family didn’t have much left after a fire in their apartment building Friday morning. The fire made their apartment and two others “uninhabitable,” according to Brad Whittaker, a battalion chief with the Lexington Fire Department.
“One officer said that we probably lost everything,” Rowe said.
Rowe said she shared the apartment with four others, including her mom, dad and 2-year-old son. One of their cats came galloping out of the building and ran off into a neighboring yard. A firefighter brought the other one out in his arms.
The apartment in which the fire started, which Rowe said was hers, was “a total loss,” according to Whittaker. It was on the second floor of the three-floor building. The building had six apartments on either side with a stairwell in the middle. The three uninhabitable apartments were among six on one side, and the six on the other side were likely OK, Whittaker said.
“All the fire was mainly concentrated through that second-floor apartment, but there was some that extended up through the wall to the third floor,” Whittaker said.
The apartment on the first floor, directly underneath where the fire started, suffered significant water damage, Whittaker said.
Fire investigators hadn’t yet determined the fire’s cause late Friday.
Apartment complex staff said residents got out safely and offered some help.
“We’ve given them apartments to stay in for now, but after that, we’re not sure yet,” said Natalie Esparza, assistant manager of Park Vista Apartments
She said they’ve also contacted the Red Cross.
This story was originally published February 5, 2021 at 12:35 PM.