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by STEPHANIE SLEPIAN
An early morning fire in a St. George apartment building yesterday woke residents with the heavy smell of smoke, forcing many to the street still groggy with sleep.
There were no injuries reported in the all-hands blaze, which began at 7:12 a.m. in the kitchen of a fifth-floor apartment at 60 Hamilton Ave.
Damage was minimal, mostly from smoke and water, firefighters said.
A cause for the fire has not been determined, but firefighters said no foul play is suspected. The apartment's occupants were not home when the fire broke out.
While firefighters on the scene described the blaze as self-contained to the one apartment, they said it was difficult to put out because there were no standpipes in the building, forcing them to drag heavy water-filled hoses up the stairs to the fifth floor.
Standpipes, usually located on every floor, provide a water source where firefighters typically can attach their hoses. But the eight-story building at 60 Hamilton Ave. doesn't have standpipes because it is built on a slope, firefighters said.
"Every man is important," said one firefighter, who wished to remain anonymous. "When they took that extra man off the engine and never put him back, this is where it counts."
The fire was brought under control at 7:45 a.m., officials said.
Fifth-floor residents said the elderly couple who live in the apartment where the fire began were on vacation.
"From what I understand, they are a retired couple and they travel a lot," said Nita Livingston, who lives directly across the hall and said she has seen the couple once since she moved there in October.
As soon as Ms. Livingston smelled the smoke, she began notifying her neighbors by knocking on doors and ringing bells.
"I smelled it and then I saw it start billowing under my doorwell," she said. "We got out pretty quickly."
Ms. Livingston spent much of the morning yesterday standing on the sidewalk with her neighbors, some still wearing their pajamas.
Rolando Remedios was asleep in his fourth-floor apartment when firefighters knocked on his door with orders to evacuate.
"When I came into the hall, I smelled it," he said. "When I got outside, I stood away as far as possible."
After a neighbor rang his bell, Sean Montgomery, a videographer by trade, grabbed his two young sons -- and then his camera.
His footage reveals firefighters dragging hoses through the hall and helping residents leave the building.
"It was very scary," said Montgomery, who stood outside the building in jean shorts and a blue bathrobe as his boys played nearby. "I walked out into the hallway and I saw the smoke. When I saw the firefighters, I felt safe. They really worked fast."
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