NO ONE IS INJURED: BLAZE FORCES RESIDENTS OF APARTMENT INTO BITTER COLD

Residents of a twostory, brick apartment building at 134 S. Lorimier were forced to flee into subfreezing temperatures Thursday morning, after a smoky fire broke out in a basement apartment of the building.

The outside temperature was 27 degrees when the fire was reported at 9:27 a.m.

There were no injuries, but the residents of the six apartments will have to find shelter elsewhere for at least a week while repairs are made to electrical wiring, authorities said.

The apartment where the fire started was occupied by Lee and Sheronda Harris and their three young children.

Captain Ron Kistner said the fire started in a bedroom closet.

"Apparently one of the young children tossed a burning piece of paper into the closet," Kistner said. "We estimate the fire probably burned about 10 minutes before it was discovered."

Kistner said another child discovered the fire and woke up their mother, who was asleep at the time. "It's very fortunate the child was able to wake up the mother, or this fire could have had a very tragic outcome," said Kistner. "The smoke in the apartment was very bad when we arrived."

Kistner said the fire spread from the closet and bedroom to the kitchen and living room area. He said there was minor structural damage to the basement apartment, with heavy to moderate fire and heat damage to the entire apartment and contents, and varying degrees of smoke damage to the other five apartments and contents.

The building is owned by Albert and LaVonne Jones.