Feb 3, 2003 By Josh Krysak 2 min read

Early Sunday morning, 33 residents of the Heritage Apartments in Uniontown were evacuated after fire broke out on the third floor of the five-story building.

According to state police, of the 38 apartments in the senior housing building, 33 were occupied and all residents were evacuated. A spokesperson for the Uniontown Fire Department said that all residents, who are senior citizens, were evacuated quickly and safely from the building.

Three residents did sustain injuries related to the blaze, the spokesperson for the Uniontown Fire Department said.

The fire started in a third floor hallway at 3:39 a.m. of the building owned by Uniontown Senior Housing LTD at 25 W. Peter St., took firefighters several hours to contain, as fire crews from Hopwood and North Union Township assisted Uniontown with the blaze.

Firefighters from Uniontown remained on the scene until 6:11 a.m., the spokesperson said.

The report said that the fire began by unknown means around a loveseat in the third-floor hallway and the spokesperson for the fire department said that the cause remains under investigation by the state police fire marshal. According to the police report, all major fire damage was contained to the third floor, but smoke damage was sustained throughout the entire building.

“The third floor sustained heavy smoke and fire damage,” the fire department spokesperson said. “The entire building sustained smoke damage and is now shut down.”

According to the spokesperson, the residents were transported to the Uniontown Fire Station as a place of temporary shelter Sunday morning and all remain either with family or at Mount St. Macrina until the building can be repaired.

According to the police report, two of the three residents who were injured in the blaze sustained smoke-related injuries, and all three were treated at the Uniontown Hospital.

A hospital spokesperson would not comment on their conditions.

The spokesperson for the fire department said that no firefighters were injured while battling the blaze and that the building’s close proximity to a fire hydrant enabled quick access to water.

According to the police report, damage to the building and residents’ property is estimated at $300,000.

The report also noted that the building was not equipped with a sprinkler system.