Several Units Gutted in Kennewick Apartment Fire

Early Friday morning Kennewick Fire Crews were dispatched to the apartment complex at 200 South Union Street, for a report of multiple units on fire at the Sunrise Villas complex.

  When crews arrived a lot of smoke was coming up

According to Kennewick Fire Chief Chad Michael, units arrived within 5 minutes of getting the call at 5:46 AM.

Crews saw fire and smoke coming from multiple carports attached to the units, those flames threatened to spread to a second building. Using a water cannon, on one of the trucks crews were able to beat back the fire, and had all the flames under control within 19 minutes.

There had been concerns about people inside the two units that were known to be on fire, with help from Kennewick Police, those people were located. They told crews they were awakened by the smell of smoke. Their initial attempt to escape through a breezeway was halted because of flames and excessive heat, but they were able to escape through another exit.

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At least two of the units were damaged, two of them were occupied. The tenants told Fire Crews they were not alerted by, not did they hear any indications of noise from smoke detectors.  Crews stayed on scene for several hours to mop up hot spots. Two people were evaluated on scene, but did not require any transport or other medical treatment.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, the investigation continues.