5 Injured In 3-Alarm New Hampshire Blaze

WEST LEBANON, N.H. --

Five people were injured early Tuesday morning when a fire tore through a West Lebanon apartment building.

Flames broke out in the Elm Street building at about 12:30 a.m. and quickly spread to three alarms. When firefighters arrived, the six-unit building had been evacuated, thanks in part to a city employee.

"The Public Works Department was removing snow in the area," Chief Chris Christopoulos Jr. said. "A public works employee was actually helping people get out of the building."

Five people were taken to a hospital with smoke inhalation. Christopoulos said all were treated and released.

"I just looked out my roommate's window, and it was on fire," witness Morgan Richardson said. "Smoke just started pouring out of the attic window. It was crazy."

The temperature hovered around 13 degrees below zero, and Richardson said some of her neighbors were forced outside wearing barely anything at all.

"The downstairs neighbor, we let them into our little area down there because they were freezing," she said. "They were wearing shorts, a tank top and flip flops."

The fire took about two hours to get under control, in part because of the way the apartment building was constructed.

"A space between two sections of the building -- once the fire got in that area, it could have started across," Christopoulos said. "Our guys did a tremendous job to stop it at the area of origin."

Fire officials said that the fire was caused by faulty Christmas lights. Working smoke detectors helped the residents escape safely.