CINCINNATI — One person is dead after a fire in a West Price Hill apartment building early Thursday morning, according to Cincinnati Fire Department Assistant Chief Matt Flagler.
Flagler told us fire crews were alerted to the fire at The Pinecrest Apartments on West 8th Street by both 911 calls and an internal building alarm just before 3 a.m. Thursday morning. As firefighters arrived, they noticed smoke on the eighth and ninth floors of the highrise, a release from the Cincinnati Fire Department says.
When firefighters were able to make entry, they found one person dead inside one of the building's 9th floor apartments, Flagler said.
According to Flagler, the fire damage is contained to just one apartment, but several other units on the 8th and 9th floor were damaged by smoke and water.
"The building did what it was designed to do, so the fire door held the smoke and fire," Flager said. "Which was really helpful, and then we also had the fire alarm sounding, helping everybody get downstairs."
WATCH: Firefighters work to put out the fire, despite a frozen fire hydrant:
Flager estimates about 60 paramedics and firefighters were on scene and worked their way through all 190 units to check on residents.
Flagler said they determined no one else was hurt, and many of the residents were allowed back into their apartments Thursday morning.
A report from CFD says no residents were displaced by the fire or the damage.
Flager added that the building is owned and operated by the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority and they would be responsible to work with residents if they are impacted by any damage.
Officials have not yet provided any information on what may have caused the fire, or on the person who was killed.
Temperatures in the single digits did cause a problem for firefighters.
"We had one fire hydrant inside the complex that was frozen and this time of year that's common," Flagler said.
He added that firefighters check every hydrant in the city every two weeks and the manpower they had at the scene helped overcome that obstacle.
Cincinnati fire crews were fully cleared out of the apartment complex by 6:30 a.m.
