Dec. 02--A fire in a seventh-floor apartment injured a woman and forced evacuation of the building early this morning, according to the La Crosse Fire Department.
Firefighters responded at 3:23 a.m. to a fire alarm at Stoffel Court, 333 S. Seventh St., where they saw black smoke coming from a seventh-story window.
In the apartment, fire crews found a woman suffering from smoke inhalation and burns. Tri-State Ambulance transported the woman, whose name has not been released, to Mayo Clinic Health System, which declined to release any information.
Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire, confining the blaze to the apartment, and removed smoke from the seventh floor, according to a fire department news release.
Many residents of Stoffel Court, a 75-unit City Housing Authority building, evacuated the structure after its fire alarm system alerted them.
Some evacuees stood outside until they were able to return to the building after about 40 minutes, while others went to Becker Plaza next door for shelter, according to the fire department.
The fire department and state fire marshal are investigating.
Copyright 2012 - La Crosse Tribune, Wis.
