It was a Family Day that some residents in Prescott would like to forget.
A fire broke out in a downtown apartment building early Monday morning, leaving more than a dozen people without a home.
“Very first thing, you wake up and hear fire,” says Steven Davis, one of the residents of the apartments.
“And it’s like, panic mode sets in.”
The fire started at about 6 a.m. in one of the apartments above Boomers Sports Bar and has displaced 15 people from their homes.
“My girlfriend and I jumped up out of bed,” says Davis.
“Couldn’t really smell anything as far as smoke or whatnot, not at first. But people seemed to be in a panic. My first thought was to get out and get the cats out.”
Luckily they did get out, and so did everyone else, as the fire department says there were no injuries sustained.
The owners of the building say two apartments have been completely destroyed, and water damage has put a significant roadblock on the work on Boomers, which has been under renovation since the beginning of the pandemic.
“There’s 10 units,” says Brent Norton, chief fire prevention officer for the Prescott Fire Department.
“When we arrived, there was smoke coming from around the roof area. We went inside, internal attack, and up on the third floor we had to breach the ceilings on both units. So there was smoke and water damage. We had the fire knocked down in 10 minutes.”
No one is allowed back in the building, which means the 15 people affected by the fire are now homeless.
Some are staying with friends or family, while others have found accommodations at local hotels.
“My family has some other properties, some buildings, so I’m in one of the buildings they don’t have rented at the moment,” says Tyson Cardinal, one of the displaced residents.
“I’m there with my dogs for now for a few days until I’m figured out. My girlfriend, I think she’s in a hotel room for now. I think a lot of the people were taken care of as far as I know.”
The fire department says there is no damage estimate as of yet.
They are also looking into the cause of the fire, which hasn’t been determined at this point.
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