Fire rips through Kennewick apartment building, forcing evacuations

Several people and pets were forced out of their Kennewick apartments by a fire just weeks before Christmas.

A reported chimney fire started about 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Building G of the Lakeside Apartments at the corner of Clearwater Avenue and Edison Street, Kennewick Deputy Fire Chief Rob Ball said in a release.

When police officers arrived, they spotted smoke and started evacuating residents from 10 apartments.

The fire appeared to have started in one of the downstairs apartments and spread upstairs through a chimney, Kennewick police said in a Facebook post.

Firefighters found smoke coming from the eaves of the building and went inside to battle the blaze in an attempt to contain it to the west side of the building on the 5100 block of Clearwater Avenue.

Firefighters also cut open the roof to put water on the blaze.

Kennewick firefighters along with Benton County Fire District 1 and the Pasco Fire Department were able to put out the flames by 8:20 p.m.

While it was initially reported as a chimney fire, investigators are still trying to confirm the cause of the fire.

The fire damaged two apartments and water damaged a third.

It’s not clear how many apartments were occupied at the time, or how many people were evacuated. There was no immediate information on how many people weren’t able to return to their apartments.

Those displaced are being helped by the American Red Cross, the local property management company and the local chaplain service, Ball said.

Fire officials suggested donating to the American Red Cross to help those in need. The local office can be reached at 509-783-6195.