Apartment dweller started fire with ashes

The blaze began shortly before 11:30 a.m. at 1712 Crossroads Arbor Way, which is near Crossroads Plaza. At least 10 fire trucks and 65 firefighters responded to the scene as smoke billowed out of the building's roof.

Resident Scott Denny said the fire started after he took some ashes out of his fireplace and put them in a cardboard box on his balcony.

"We had some ashes out on the porch and came back and it was completely engulfed. I guess the wind had caught them,"  he said. "I mean, I checked them. They looked OK. I stomped on them. I should have put water on them, obviously, but I didn't."

After returning from a restaurant, Denny saw smoke coming from his apartment complex. His unit, along with five others, were damaged – two by fire and four by water. His 22-year-old girlfriend, Erin Grogan, was inside the apartment when the fire started.

"Next thing you know, the whole porch was engulfed in flames, so I called 911," she said. "It's tragic. I just feel bad for Scott and his brother, because they saw their house burn down (when) they were kids. Now this, so it's sad."

The Red Cross is helping residents whose apartments were damaged in the fire.