When firefighters arrived, fire was shooting through the roof of the apartment complex, Snively said. He said the fire ran across the attic “pretty quickly” but it was stopped at the fire walls.
Capt. Jon Harvey said the first crew arrived less than five minutes after the call and he was surprised how advanced the fire was.
“It was moving very fast,” he said.
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The cause of the fire is undetermined, and it affected about 15 to 20 apartments, Snively said.
“We got a lot of work to do,” said Snively, who added he has “a general idea” of the apartment where the fire started.
He said there were no injuries to firefighters and residents and he credited Middletown police officers for helping evacuate the residents. Several firefighters were seen wearing wet towels around their necks.
Harvey said “fatigue set in” because of the heat. He said firefighters were on scene for six hours and investigators returned Tuesday.
Since numerous agencies responded, Harvey said Middletown Deputy Chief David Adams served as the commander. He said the firefighters were divided into divisions and each division leader reported to Adams.
“It went really well,” Harvey said.
The American Red Cross provided water and food for the firefighters and lodging to those displaced, said Marita Salkowski, spokeswoman for the agency. She said the Red Cross provided nine hotel rooms for 17 residents, though she expected those numbers to rise throughout the week.
Also, she said, the Red Cross typically provides health and mental services and assistance with other social services agencies for those impacted by the fire.
Food and beverages also were provided by Atrium Medical Center, Harvey said.
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Michael Beloff, 24, his girlfriend, Tabitha Street, 23, and her 4-year-old daughter lived in the apartment where the fire may have started, she said. Street said she was working as a server at the Applebee’s in Hamilton, her boyfriend was at his construction job and her daughter was at the babysitters when the first started.
Street, who’s seven months pregnant, said all the material possessions, including her boyfriend’s Marine uniforms, were destroyed in the fire. Beloff, a 2015 Madison High School graduate, served four years in the Marines.
“It was devastating,” Street, a 2015 New Miami High School graduate, said of watching the fire. “I just cried.”
But, she said, those items can be replaced.
“Lives can’t,” she said.
She said they have renter’s insurance.
Those agencies that responded included Middletown, Monroe, Madison Twp., Trenton, Franklin, Liberty Twp., Turtlecreek Twp. and JEMS.
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