CINCINNATI -- Neighbors were forced from their homes early Saturday after a building caught fire in the city's Pendleton neighborhood.
Assistant Chief Roy Winston said it was obvious people had been living the basement of 509 E. 12th St., where firefighters found heavy flames coming from the second and third floors when they arrived shortly after midnight Friday.
"There was one victim was pulled out of the basement -- wasn't harmed by the fire, but was unaware that the building was on fire," Winston said. "So we think there were people inhabiting the building that shouldn't have been."
Firefighters couldn't enter the property because a staircase collapsed, Winston said. They also were concerned about adjoining properties in the densely-built neighborhood, because flames kept reappearing through the building's roof.
PENDLETON FIRE: calling in @CinPubServices because there will be ice everywhere @WCPO pic.twitter.com/ncZ95TiljO
— Evan Millward (@EvanMillward) January 23, 2016
A city crew was called to salt the street because of all the ice from the fire hoses. Power to some nearby buildings also was turned off for a while.
No cause of the fire was immediately known.
