2 injured, residents say building condemned after Greene County apartment fire

YELLOW SPRINGS — Residents at an apartment complex in Yellow Springs said the state fire marshal has condemned their building after flames tore through it.

Yellow Springs firefighters and police officers were dispatched around 4:01 a.m. to the 300 block of W. North College Street on initial reports of an apartment fire at the Hawthorne Place Apartments, dispatchers told News Center 7.

A woman who lives in the complex said she got her kids, cats and even her guinea pigs out safely.

>> PHOTOS: Several displaced after fire at Yellow Springs apartment complex

“It was stuff. I got the important part out, all of that is just stuff. All of my neighbors were out here standing in this road while their houses burn. It was just stuff,” she said.

City Manager Josué Salmerón told News Center 7 that police were the first on the scene and acted “swiftly” to make sure residents of the building safely evacuated.

Two people were taken to area hospitals to be checked for smoke inhalation.

Salmerón said eight units were “uninhabitable” and that the Red Cross was called to assist those impacted by the fire.

“Vacancies are tough to come by in Yellow Springs as it is for the area. So I imagine that it’ll be tough but we’ll work with the residents, work with the Lagos, owners of the Hawthorne Apartments to make sure that these folks find a place to go,” Salmerón said.

The State Fire Marshal is at the apartment complex, investigating what could have caused this fire.

We will continue to provide updates on this developing story.

1 of 19