Five residents hospitalized after early morning Belleville apartment fire
Five residents of the Plaza Apartments in west Belleville were hospitalized Monday after an early morning fire.
Belleville Fire Chief Curt Lougeay said the residents were transported to the hospital for medical observation. He could not provide additional information about the severity of their injuries or the status of their conditions.
Firefighters were dispatched to the apartments at 204 N. 46th St. just before 2 a.m.
The fire started in an apartment on the second floor of the three-story building. Firefighters used a ladder to rescue several residents who were stuck on their apartment balconies, according to Lougeay.
He said the building had working smoke detectors, which sounded during the fire.
“That alerted the occupants throughout the building, which was a very fortunate thing,” Lougeay said. “... Everybody was able to make it out.”
Lougeay said crews extinguished the fire in about 15 minutes. The cause remains under investigation.
