By: Sabrina Ahmed
SAhmed@klkntv.com
A devastating fire in central Lincoln has left several families homeless Saturday night.
It began around 4 this afternoon. Eyewitnesses say it all happened so fast that it's almost unreal. The fire has destroyed almost half of an apartment building.
Lydia Johnson says, "I started shaking immediately it was terrifying and it was really hot and my first thought was get inside and get everyone out who could possibly be in there."
She saw it all happen. Johnson says it started with smoke on a chair and the complex quickly caught fire. "as you can see behind me, what started as a small porch fire literally engulfed the top 2 stories, leaving many people homeless tonight."
Nine of the twenty four apartments are a total loss because of fire, smoke or water damage, but no one could go inside tonight.
Officials say the cause of the fire is still under investigation. Those living in the apartment weren't home when it started. Everyone else in the building did get out unharmed.
As for those fighting fires is hard enough, but fire fighters say adding this heat makes it even worse. "we want to make sure the fires out but crews have to work very hard and they did work very hard. So we have to re hydrate them and make sure they're fine."
Officials say the fire could have been a lot worse but the response time was less than three minutes and it didn't have time to spread through the building.
One fire fighter was hurt. He broke his ankle and was taken to the hospital. Officials say he is doing fine.
