A fire at a three-apartment building in Paradise Saturday night has displaced four people and extensively damaged one of the units.
Acting platoon chief Gerry O’Neill of the St. John’s Regional fire department said they received a 911 call at about 7 p.m. reporting a fire at 1766 Topsail Road and when they arrived on scene, they found smoke coming from one of the units. Firefighters laid attack lines and began fighting the fire while conducting a search of the building.
No people were located in any of the units but one cat was found once the blaze was under control and it was returned to its owner. Firefighters were unable to locate a second cat that went missing during the incident.
O’Neill said most of the heavy fire damage was confined to one apartment and that all four units had smoke and water damage.
There were people at home in the unit where the fire started and they escaped safely but there was apparently no one home in the other units when the fire broke out.
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary will be investigating and trying to determine a cause.
The Red Cross says it is assisting a couple from one unit and a man and a woman from each of the other two apartments with emergency lodging, food and clothing.
None of the residents was injured.
-This story has been updated to add additional information provided by the Red Cross.
