CINCINNATI -- Firefighters rescued several people Wednesday night after their Midway Avenue apartment building caught fire.
According to the Cincinnati Fire Department, the fire started in the basement and smoke filled the building’s hallways in a matter of minutes. Thomas Jackson, who had just said goodbye to his children for the night, said he initially thought someone had burned their dinner.
Then he saw the other residents running.
"I started knocking on doors and telling people to get out," he said. "I ran upstairs to get my kinfolk, make sure they were safe."
Marcus Mitchell wasn’t in the building when his mother and little brother were rescued by firefighters, but he arrived at the scene so they could escape the nighttime cold by warming up in his car.
"(My brother) didn’t even have any shoes on when they brought everybody out of the place," Mitchell said.
Fire department officials said the cause of the fire was unknown Wednesday night. Only six of the 12 apartments in the building would be immediately habitable after the fire.
