Kennewick apartment fire destroys homes, threatens neighboring buildings

A Friday morning fire destroyed a Kennewick 4-plex and left multiple people without a home.

People living in two of the Sunrise Villas Apartment building units at 200 S. Union smelled smoke about 5:45 a.m. Friday. When they opened their doors they found heavy smoke outside, Kennewick Fire Chief Chad Michael said.

They were able to escape and call 911. Once firefighters arrived about five minutes later, they found flames had engulfed the car port and the rest of the building was burning. The fire was threatening to spread to neighboring buildings.

After stopping the fire from spreading, firefighters got it under control within 20 minutes, Michael said.

The blaze destroyed the building, but not one was hurt, Michael said.

A fire investigator was on the scene Friday morning to determine what started the blaze.

Information was not immediately available about how many people were forced out of their homes. Michael said three of the four apartments had renters and two were occupied when the fire started.

The American Red Cross was contacted to help the people living there with temporary housing.