Residents safe as fire tears through valley apartments

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - "The screen hit the window and I'm like, 'I got to get out of here,' so I told my mom and dad that there was a fire, so we came outside."

Angel Stone, and other residents at this apartment complex off 36th Street and Thomas woke up to quite a nightmare early this morning.

"Well, I came outside and then when I came outside I saw people on the other side of the building racing out, covered in blankets," Stone said.

This unit on the third floor caught fire with one woman inside.

"There was four more apartments on the first floor and second floor that we evacuated also," Capt. Reda Bigler of the Phoenix Fire Department said.

Neighbors say the fire alarm frequently goes off and they didn't think much of it, at first.

"The fire alarm woke me up, that thing is pretty loud, but I just didn't take it as serious as I should," said Eric, a resident in the apartments.

"When you found out it was pretty serious, what was going on through your mind?" Fox 10's Courtney Griffin asked.

"Make sure everyone was out," he said. "I actually tried to see if I could get in there to put it out, hoping it was something small, but unfortunately the smoke had already come up to waist-level."

The people who live here are mindful of the damage, but are thankful everyone got out safely.

This affects five units, that's five families possibly displaced because of this," said Michael Jarrell, who lives in the apartments. "This could have been way worse, you know, this whole place could have gone up."

One woman was treated for smoke inhalation after gathering a few of her items before running out of her apartment.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.