Firefighters from New Philadelphia, Dover and Uhrichsville moved quickly to extinguish a fire that started Thursday evening in the basement of this apartment complex on Kelly Street NW. (Photo by Stacey Carmany, Tusco TV)

New Philadelphia, Ohio (WJER) - City fire officials say they were able to perform a quick knockdown on a fire at a New Philadelphia apartment complex before it spread too far Thursday evening. 

New Philadelphia Fire Chief Jim Parrish says they were called out to a three-unit apartment building in the 1200 block of Kelly Street NW about 8 pm after one of the occupants smelled smoke and discovered a fire in the basement. He says when crews arrived, they had an involved structure fire that was beginning to spread to the first floor.

“Firefighters entered the structure and found a fire in the basement of that apartment. That fire extended up through the floor of the second apartment and up the wall,” he says.

Parrish says they were able to contain the fire to just those areas, but he says there is smoke damage throughout the entire building. He says the fire started in the breaker box, so they’ve called in an electrician to investigate the exact cause. 

Parrish says the families will have to relocate until repairs can be made. He says the Red Cross is providing shelter for one of the tenants and the other two are staying with friends. 

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