16 displaced in NE Austin complex fire
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Sixteen people were displaced due to an apartment fire on Sweeney Lane near Manor Road in northeast Austin Wednesday morning.
Fire officials say the blaze was caused by unattended cooking in the first floor, which spread to 10 units and reached the attic of the building.
The fire was was discovered by an Austin police Officer Gary Griffin, who helped evacuate everyone in the complex.
"Driving down Manor Road, I smelled a little smoke and I stopped to investigate. I saw just a little smoke coming out of one of the vents of the attic,” he said. “At that point, I turned around got to looking closer and I noticed that it started getting worse and worse. Contacted AFD, they started their units this way.”
AFD’s community placement team and the Red Cross are working with those displaced by the fire. There were no injuries reported.
In total, the fire caused $200,000 in structural damage and $50,000 in damage to contents.