photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World Photo

Maxx Lamb, Saffie Bettis and their cat Hades are pictured on Tuesday, July 6, 2021, after a fire in their apartment building, 1145 Louisiana St., forced them to evacuate. Lamb and Bettis were asleep in their apartment but woke up when they heard commotion outside. They were able to catch Hades and get out of the building.

Multiple fire crews and police vehicles responded to an afternoon fire at an apartment complex just east of The Oread hotel.

People at the scene, 1145 Louisiana St., indicated that a passerby sometime around 3 p.m. had seen flames erupting from a laundry room area at the basement level and shooting up to two stories above.

Zane Morgan, a battalion chief with Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical, told the Journal-World that when firefighters arrived mostly smoke was visible. Crews removed the siding at the front of the building and extinguished the fire within a few minutes, he said.

Morgan said the fire appeared to be limited to the exterior of the building; no one was injured, and he did not expect any tenants to be displaced Tuesday night, although the balconies in the vicinity of the fire might be temporarily off limits. He said an investigation was underway to determine the cause and the extent of the damage.

Saffie Bettis and her roommate Maxx Lamb were asleep in the apartment directly above the laundry room and said they woke to commotion and smoke outside their door. They were able to trap their cat, Hades, in the bathroom, and the three of them were able to safely evacuate with other tenants.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World Photo

Firefighters respond to a fire at 1145 Louisiana St. on Tuesday, July 6, 2021. Residents had to evacuate the building.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World Photo

Firefighters respond to a fire at 1145 Louisiana St. on Tuesday, July 6, 2021. Residents had to evacuate the building.