Residents of a four-plex apartment building near Kenai got a rude awakening Friday when one of the apartments caught fire.
No one was injured in the blaze that started and was contained in a second-floor apartment in the building off of Kalifornsky Beach Road, according to the Kenai Fire Department. Firefighters responded to the blaze at 12:30 a.m. Friday along with Central Emergency Services, the Nikiski Fire Department and the Kenai Police Department, according to a post on the Kenai Fire Department’s Facebook page.
Kenai Fire Chief Jeff Tucker said one resident of the burning apartment, a pregnant woman, had already jumped out of the second floor window by the time firefighters got there.
“Luckily she landed in a fairly soft area when she jumped,” Tucker said.
The woman did not complain of any injuries, but later went to the hospital on her own accord for precautionary reasons, he said. The man and a dog that lived in the apartment with her were rescued by firefighters using a ladder, Tucker said.
The blaze is believed to have originated in the utility area of that second-story apartment, near the washer and dryer where the most significant damage was caused, Tucker said. However, the exact place it started and its cause are still under investigation, he said.
“The first priority was, you know, getting the victims out,” Tucker said.
After that, firefighters put the blaze out rather quickly, he said.
The residents of the other three apartments either evacuated the building themselves or were helped out by Kenai Police officers, Tucker said. Those three apartments are all still inhabitable.
The apartment that caught fire has damage from the flames as well as smoke damage throughout, and can no longer be lived in, Tucker said. A GoFundMe page has been set up for the couple whose apartment burned in order to raise money for them to find a new place to live.
Reach Megan Pacer at megan.pacer@peninsulaclarion.com
