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By MICHAEL STAPLES
staples.michael@dailygleaner.com

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Swift action by Fredericton firefighters Friday was key in keeping an apartment complex from being consumed by fire.

Enlarge Photo

James West

APARTMENT FIRE: a Fredericton firefighter throws ash off a third-floor apartment balcony on Ferris Street in Fredericton on Friday morning. The Fredericton Fire Department was able to contain the fire before it spread to the other units.

Firefighters responded to an alarm at a three-storey apartment building at 41 Ferris St. just before 7:30 a.m. after flames were reported coming out of the structure's east end.

No one was injured in the blaze and the building was evacuated without incident.

Firefighters moved quickly to knock down the flames, containing it to the front, right-hand corner of the building. But the apartment where the fire originated sustained extensive damage.

"A quick response is the key to everything," said Bob Martin, assistant deputy chief of operations with the Fredericton Fire Department.

"What our guys were able to do was get in and get that fire down very quickly. They hit it, were able to vent it and get that fire out, which was up in the attic portion of the building."

Martin said the cause of the fire is under investigation, but it's believed to have started in the balcony area or the wall leading to it.

Natalie Mazerolle, who lives in the affected apartment, was visibly shaken Friday morning.

"I went to get groceries, and when I came back, there were all of these fire trucks," an emotional Mazerolle said.

Travis Hulberg, a tenant in the building, called 9-1-1.

He said he was outside and on his way to the bank when he saw flames.

"I was looking at the side of the building and said 'My God, half of that door is on fire,' " Hulberg said. "So, I ran inside and tried to get as many people out as I could."

The situation looked dire at time, Hulberg said.

He said he also went to the apartment where the fire was and knocked on the door but couldn't get an answer.

Hulberg said he was relieved to hear that no one was home at the time.

Michael Petts, who lives in a basement apartment, was outside scraping the frost off his windshield when he noticed the fire.

"That was all aflame," Petts said, pointing towards the east end of the building. "I was also running around knocking on doors and I hit the fire alarm."

Darlene Gauvin lives across the street from the apartment building.

She said she opened her living-room curtains and saw the burning building.

"It was ablaze," Gauvin said. "The shingles were falling on fire, and the eavestroughs started and it began to spread right across. The flames were falling down to the balcony below and setting the furniture on fire down there. It was just scary."

Gauvin, a friend of Petts', said she was initially concerned for his safety, but after she discovered he was OK, she helped with coffee and clothing.

The building is owned by Cowperthwaite Apartment Rentals.

General manager Carol Durepos said repair crews were dispatched immediately to the site and tenants would be back in by Friday night. The only exception, she said, would be Mazerolle, who has been set up in an apartment at another building owned by the company.

Durepos said damage from the Friday morning fire is estimated at $100,000.