Mayor, police and fire credit coordinated response after apartment fire that evacuated 93 people

Mayor Molnar praised city staff and first responders after an apartment building fire that required the evacuation of 93 people but resulted in no fatalities.

"93 lives were inside that building. A building that was on fire and we got everybody out of there and no one was hurt," Molnar said, thanking police, fire, dispatch and city employees for what he called an "all hands-on deck" response. He said one person was transported as a precaution and later identified as a resident on oxygen.

Chief Ripley echoed the mayor's account and described the response as "an absolute total team effort," noting mutual aid from neighboring jurisdictions and a broad city response. He said the facility will be closed for an extended period while officials work with investigators. "The state fire marshal has completed his investigation and they deemed it to be accidental, direct cause not known," Ripley said.

Lieutenant Costello and other police officials also thanked staff and volunteers for their roles in evacuating residents and assisting at the scene. Molnar and Ripley said the city will share results of any further investigations conducted by the facility's insurance investigators when available.

The incident prompted the mayor to emphasize community resilience and emergency coordination; he declined to dwell on facility star ratings raised by reporters, saying, "What I care about today is 93 lives made it out alive and no one was hurt." The council did not take any formal action connected to the incident at this meeting.