A large structure fire at a Bowling Green apartment complex caused one person to be transported to the hospital with minor injuries.
The call was received shortly before 4 p.m. Wednesday from Village Court Apartments, 311 Parkview Drive.
When Bowling Green Fire Division personnel arrived, there were flames showing and a lot of smoke, said fire Chief Bill Moorman.
“There was a lot of smoke and a lot of fire,” he said.
He said he was home at the time, nearly seven miles away, when he looked up and saw a large plume of smoke in the city.
The fire was at the roof level and once that was opened up, the wind pushed flames through the attic.
Battling the wind and fire was difficult, Moorman said, and the two-story apartments in the middle of the complex where they believe the fire originated were totally gutted. Others suffered water damage.
Middleton Township responded on automatic mutual aid and Perrysburg fire, Central Joint, Center Township and Weston departments also were called to assist.
Perrysburg attacked the north side of the complex with its arial truck while Bowling Green focused on the south side to prevent the fire from spreading to adjacent apartments, Moorman said.
Eighteen apartments units were involved, and out of those, five are still habitable and those residents were allowed to return last night, he said.
One person was transported to the hospital with minor injuries while the remaining displaced residents were taken to a local hotel, he said.
The apartment complex is owned by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and managed by Harbor
All on-duty personnel at Bowling Green’s two fire departments responded as did firefighters who were off duty. Volunteers from neighboring departments staffed the city to handle any other emergencies, Moorman said.
Crews remained on scene overnight with thermal imaging cameras to detect hot spots and the state fire marshal was requested to investigate to determine the cause, Moorman said.
“We believe it started somewhere in the middle of the complex,” he said.
The middle of the complex is the office and two-story apartments. Moorman said the fire started in that area and spread north into the single-story units.
