Businesses clean up after fire in downtown Lexington

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Some residents are displaced after an apartment fire in downtown Lexington Tuesday night.

“There were about 15 fire trucks and ambulances. They shut down all the way from Upper to Main Street to Church Street. I mean smoke was billowing out of the building.”

It was just after 5:30 Tuesday afternoon, when smoke started pouring out of the apartment building between Sidebar and Pearl’s on North Limestone. The busy downtown street was closed for a few hours as people evacuated that building, and the surrounding restaurants.

“A lot of these buildings do not have fire suppression, so that’s the scary thing. If emergency services does not react fast enough, suddenly it can spread and a lot more people are in trouble.”

The apartment building’s landlord tells us they’re still assessing the damage, but for now a few of his tenants have had to find other places to stay. Sidebar opened the next day, seemingly unaffected. While Pearl’s Pizza has a note on the door saying they’ll be closed until at least Friday for cleaning.

“I was worried”

The building fire did draw a large crowd of worried spectators Tuesday night. Many of whom even came back Wednesday to check on things. They said they’re of course glad no one was hurt, but they also say they’re surprised that the damage wasn’t worse.

“The Lexington Fire Department did an amazing job. They showed up quick, did their job, they contained it and no one got hurt. Best case scenario considering the situation, you know what I mean.”

The Lexington Fire Department said as of Wednesday, the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

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