Fire displaces residents of apartment building

COAL CITY — Fire officials are lauding one of the residents of a Coal City apartment building for helping keep an apparent kitchen blaze contained to one unit.

Residents of the apartment building were displaced for about two hours Tuesday evening for safety concerns, but they were allowed to return to their homes.

The Coal City Fire Protection District responded at about 6:10 p.m. Tuesday to the report of an apartment fire at 455 West Division St., Coal City. The fire was contained to the single unit. No injuries were reported.

The apartment where the fire occurred was deemed uninhabitable due to smoke and fire damage, according to a press release issued by the Coal City Fire Protection District. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but it did originate in the kitchen area.

Residents and fire crews were alerted of the fire due to the quick action of a resident who activated the fire alarm, the press release noted.

"Fire alarms are designed to do just what this one did," said Nick Doerfler, firefighter/paramedic of the Coal City Fire Protection District. "Any time you hear a fire alarm you should go to your nearest exit and leave the building."

"Should you see a fire in a building, you should exit immediately and activate the pull station near the exit door as you are leaving the building," he added. "This will notify other occupants of the emergency. 911 should also be called to confirm the alarm is activated."

Morris, Braidwood and Braceville Fire Departments also assisted during the fire.