“We have investigators on the scene. Quite frankly, they’re still in the process of digging out the debris to determine the cause. We might have something later in the day,” he said.
A damage estimate had not been determined yet, but since 6 of the 12 apartments were affected. Bennett estimated it could be between $400,000 and $500,000. One apartment suffered heavy damage, while the other five suffered mainly water damage, he said.
Thomas Sticka, 30, who had just returned from Indianapolis Sunday night and was in the shower when he heard his door bell ringing at his apartment at the Oaks at Woodridge Apartments on Bent Tree Road. At first he thought it was someone at the wrong address.
When he answered his third-floor apartment, it was a neighbor telling him his apartment building was on fire.
Sticka was one of 17 adults and one child displaced by the fire that was battled by three fire departments for about 30 minutes in the three-story apartment building, said Lt. Tom Wagner of the Fairfield Fire Department.
Wagner said the fire call came in at 7:10 p.m. and when firefighters arrived there were flames shooting through the roof.
The fire displaced residents in 12 units, Wagner said, and the apartments received heavy smoke and water damage. The cause of the fire was undetermined and no cost estimate was available.
There were no injuries and Wagner said six cats were recovered and one was missing.
Many of the residents stood outside the apartments, some just wearing shorts and sandals.
“It was a great weekend right up until now,” Sticka said.
Around 9:15 p.m., the displaced residents were allowed to enter their apartments one at a time with firefighters because there was no power.
Bennett said the Greater Cincinnati chapter of the Red Cross is assisting the displaced families.
More than 40 firefighters from Faifield, West Chester Twp. and Forest Park helped put out the fire.
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