Fire forces 100 people from Montco apartment

EAST NORRITON, Pa. (WPVI) -- Officials from the Red Cross say 100 people were displaced after an apartment fire in East Norriton, Montgomery County.

The blaze started after 1:30 p.m. on the 2600 block of Dekalb Pike inside one of the buildings within the DeKalb apartment complex.

The fire reached 2 alarms and multiple fire companies responded.

About a half a dozen units sustained smoke damage.

One building was condemned.

"I did see smoke coming out of that building, but we weren't sure because there's also smoke coming out of here," Maribeth Buono of East Norriton Township said.

Vivek Schivajiaro of East Norriton added, "We saw some smoke on the third floor and we took our children and came out."

Resident Bao Chen said, "I heard it affected 6 apartments."

Residents say the fire broke out in a third floor unit after a towel caught fire in the kitchen.

It took firefighters less than an hour to get control of the blaze.

There were no reports of any injuries.

The Red Cross opened a shelter at Norristown High School for displaced residents. However, they say the shelter was closed because everyone had a place to stay.

There is no immediate word on when residents can return to their apartments.

It could be several days or more.

Red Cross Eastern Pennsylvania executive director Adrian Grieve says initially they were told 100 people were displaced and they set up a shelter.

His team spent the afternoon tracking down residents' home at the time of the fire and those who were away.

Grieve said, "Were looking here at potentially 100 plus families. It becomes more difficult, I should say time consuming to find them all, and find out what they can do and what their needs are."

Anyone needing Red Cross assistance can call 800-422-7677.

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