LOUISVILLE, Ky. --
Three firefighters were injured and several residents were left homeless after an apartment building caught fire in Lyndon.
It happened at about 5:45 p.m. Friday at the Partridge Meadows apartments.
While the apartment building burned, residents said they see the smoke from several blocks away.
Three Lyndon firefighters were taken to a hospital -- one for chest pain, the other for burns and a minor ankle injury.
"One firefighter had to jump off a second-story balcony with second- and third-degree burns to his hands, and from the fall, he has a possible ankle injury," said Rick Tonini, the public information officer for the St. Matthews Fire District.
Tonini said the second floor of the building is a total loss, and the first floor is heavily damaged.
"The flames were running about 10 feet off the roof, and there was just smoke everywhere. It was just like the densest fog you could ever imagine," fire victim Greg Belviy said.
Belviy got home from work just in time to see the fire engulf his apartment. His wife was at home at the time. So while firefighters were met with a wall of heat, Belviy was hit with a wall of despair.
"Sheer panic. My wife has a medical condition, and I was really worried," Belviy said. "I came running, looking for her, then tried to get into the apartment."
Belviy's wife and their dog, Angel, escaped without injuries. In fact, all of the residents inside got out OK.
"She's going through the, 'My dad's antique this,' and, 'My great-aunt's that,' and I'm like, 'Yeah, it's probably all gone,'" Belviy said.
But the irreplaceable stuff is safe and accounted for.
"I just thank God that my wife is OK, and like I said, everything else is secondary," Belviy said.
Five different fire departments responded to the scene.
Tonini said it's too early to speculate on a cause for the fire. Fire investigators were at the scene on Friday night trying to sift through the debris and find evidence.
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