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Six apartments and a house ignite in Atlantic Beach structure fire

It took two hours to get the fire under control, officials said. Some of the six apartment units that caught fire were completely destroyed.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Six units in an Atlantic Beach apartment complex caught "heavy" fire at about 1:45 a.m. Tuesday morning, according to Captain Eric Proswimmer with the Jacksonville Fire Rescue. The fire than spread to the attic of another home.

Firefighters called for a second alarm "immediately," Proswimmer said -- multiple alarm fires mean a fire is severe and difficult to contain. 

No injuries were reported at this time and none of the residents have asked for Red Cross assistance, Proswimmer said. 

It was reported initially that there were people inside, but they had all gotten themselves outside by the time JFRD arrived, only three minutes after the initial call. Firefighters did pull a dog out of one of the buildings.

Some of the apartment complex residents were lucky -- their apartments were only partially damaged. But some of the apartments were destroyed, and those who live there will be without a home, Proswimmer said.

It's unclear whether the house involved in the fire will be livable, but it has sustained severe damage. 

However, Proswimmer says JFRD gave a valiant effort to put out such a huge fire and prevent further spread and injury. "I can't say enough how the men and women of our department did, putting this out. I know, to everybody, it looks bad and everything like that, but it's a win-win to us because there were no injuries and all the obstacles that we were faced with."

He particularly credited one officer: "One of the things was the first guy on scene, he works in this neighborhood, he knows this neighborhood, he knew to call second alarm immediately. Getting those resources coming fast is a tremendous benefit to us." 

The area has single-lane roads and is closely packed, so getting equipment in place is difficult and getting a head start is important, Proswimmer said. 

The State Fire Marshall is on the scene and will investigate the cause. One of the reasons the fire was so bad was because the buildings had cedar shake siding, which Proswimmer said is "highly flammable and spreads." 

The house which caught fire is an older home and the structure made it difficult to reach the attic.

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