BILLINGS — A fire that broke out in a duplex on the Billings South Side Saturday evening sent three people to the hospital and resulted in the death of a cat.
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Billings fire crews were dispatched to 2720 Fourth Avenue South around 6:30 p.m. following reports of a fire. One unit of the duplex sustained heavy fire damage and severe smoke damage. The adjacent unit sustained minor smoke damage.
Battalion Chief Chris Lowe said two people were taken to the hospital by ambulance and one person was separately driven to a local hospital for smoke inhalation.
Witnesses reported seeing a man running from the duplex right before the fire started.
"I was in my kitchen window and I saw a guy running out of the apartment across the street, and he's looking back, back and back, and I was like, 'What the heck is going on?' After I seen him running across the street over here, I had smoke that started coming up out of the apartment over there, everywhere. A lot of smoke. And fire started coming up off the roof," said Raven Barrett, who called 911. "People driving up the street and parking, get out of the car and banging on the door next door for people to come out, to get out."
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
