Families displaced in 2-alarm apartment building fire in Centralia

Riverside Fire Authority officials are investigating a large fire that broke out in the first floor of an apartment building at 1405 Lewis St. in Centralia just after midnight Wednesday.

The fire extended to the balcony and trapped five people, including two young children, on the second floor of the apartment, according to Capt. Terry Ternan.

“The children were rescued via ladder and the adults were able to walk out after the fire was under control,” Ternan wrote in a news release. Nobody was injured, he said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation and the damage estimate was not known Wednesday, Ternan said.

American Red Cross officials opened an emergency shelter at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday for the fire victims. The Red Cross said 24 residents were displaced because of the fire, but Ternan said seven occupants from two apartments were displaced.

The Red Cross shelter, which is at Oakview Grange, 2715 N. Pearl St., Centralia, provided fire victims with cots, water, food and additional assistance.

This story was originally published January 17, 2018 at 7:45 AM with the headline "Families displaced in 2-alarm apartment building fire in Centralia."