LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- An early morning fire collapsed a house in the Parkland neighborhood and spread to a nearby apartment building.
The call came in shortly after 2 a.m. Thursday. When firefighters arrived, they found flames shooting through the roof of the vacant house located on Olive Street near 28th and Wilson.
Those flames started spreading to buildings on both sides of the house. While there was just exterior damage to one building, the fire did spread to a two level apartment building next door. All four people living there got out safely, but not before some very scary moments as the vacant building collapsed.
"We were running away," said Angela Shimin who lives next door. "Ashes -- I mean fire embers -- it was like raining fire. It was ridiculous because the tree went up along with the house."
Firefighters were pulled out and called for backup. One firefighter suffered a knee injury on scene.
Neighbors told firefighters that squatters may have caused the blaze. "They said there were some chairs in there and there may have been people coming and going," said Lt. Col. Carroll Hauter with Louisville Fire & Rescue.
Witnesses told firefighters the building has been vacant for months.
It was a long night for the 30 firefighters called out on a rainy night. Many were still on the scene several hours after the blaze.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
The residents of the apartment that were displaced by the fire are receiving assistance from the Red Cross.
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