Circle Pine Drive apartments damaged in fire, no injuries

Residents of a two-story fourplex on Circle Pine Drive were able to escape when a fire broke out in an upstairs apartment Monday night.

The Jasper Fire Department was dispatched to the Precious Blood area after the emergency call came in from a resident of apartment 550 at about 8:39 p.m.

The responding fire fighters were able to contain the fire in the kitchen of the apartment due to their rapid response time.

According to Jasper Fire Chief Kenny Hochgesang, one of the two residents in the apartment left a pan of grease unattended on the stove top for a few moments and it erupted in flames.

The occupants, Dyshaun Lewis and  Sherry Morey, were able to escape the apartment. Two of the three other apartments were unoccupied at the time. Lewis and Morey alerted the only other occupants of the fourplex of the fire.

According to Hochgesang, although the fire was isolated to the kitchen, the apartment had smoke and water damages and was not livable at this time. Hochgesang initially estimated damages to be between $30,000 to $40,000.

The adjacent upstairs apartment would not be able to be returned to Monday evening. The apartment directly below the apartment fire would need to be inspected for water damages before the residents returned but the other downstairs apartment was undamaged.

Lewis and Morey told the fire department they thought they had a place to stay. Red Cross services were available if they were needed.

The Jasper Fire Department responded with 33 firefighters, a ladder truck and four engines.

The Jasper Police Department, Indiana State Police, Dubois County Sheriff’s Department, and Memorial Hospital Emergency Medial Services all responded to the scene.