GREENWOOD, Ind — Some residents in Greenwood are sheltering at a neighboring apartment complex after an early Wednesday fire.
Firefighters responded to reports of a fire at Meridian Oaks Apartments in Greenwood around 1 a.m. Wednesday.
Dozens of people lost their homes in the two-alarm fire, but no one was seriously hurt. Firefighters say that's due, in part, to an off-duty Greenwood Police officer who alerted his neighbors to the danger.
The massive fire spread quickly.
"This whole building's on fire. Like, it's bad," said one caller to 911 dispatchers.
"It swallowed everything immediately. It had to have happened very, very fast for it to have engulfed the whole thing," said Andie Buck, who lives in one of the nearby apartment buildings not damaged by the fire.
"I could feel the heat from here," added her boyfriend Kyle Fox. "And you could see the roof collapsing through the windows and firefighters' flashlights in there."
On Wednesday, in the light of day, the damage is painfully clear.
24 people's homes were destroyed, with the Red Cross now helping the 59 people displaced. But there was only one minor civilian injury in the fire.
One firefighter was also injured but has since been treated and released.
All lives, along with some precious mementos were saved.
Abigail Spradlin spent Wednesday afternoon sorting through photos, albums and scrapbooks in the apartment complex parking lot. The pictures are important memories of her mom, who she lost to cancer as a child.
"This is a lot of that stuff (from her) and I'm just so grateful that they're getting this stuff out for us, it's really great," Spradlin said through tears.
Spradlin was sleeping when the flames broke out and says she only got out because of a hero from the building next door.
"One of our neighbors was banging on all of the doors," she said. "That's how we woke up."
That neighbor, it turns out, was an off-duty Greenwood Police officer who firefighters say ran into the burning building before they arrived, knocked on doors and made sure everyone got out.
"We see his car all the time and we know he lives in our building and we saw him running around helping everybody. He was just in civilian clothes, like basketball shorts and a sweatshirt, like he was just enjoying his night off," Buck said. "I talked to one of the firefighters last night who said if not for him, it probably would have been a lot worse because it took them a little bit of time to get here and just those few minutes of them getting here and him getting them out, like, made the world of difference!"
Greenwood Police said the officer doesn't want to be recognized, but his actions, along with those of fearless fire crews, made sure a dangerous situation didn't turn deadly.
The White River Township fire chief says there's no word yet on what caused Wednesday's fire.
This is the second major fire at the Meridian Oaks apartment complex in the past three years.
PHOTOS: Greenwood apartment fire damage
About 20 minutes into the fire, all units in the apartment building were advised to evacuate and the fire was brought under control.
A section of the roof fell in and, because of that, so much water went inside the apartments that it made it unsafe for firefighters to go inside.
Firefighters had to do an exterior search by breaking windows so they could look inside to make sure everyone was out of the building, according to officials.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Officials told 13News that neighboring Bay Shore Apartments was opening up their gymnasium for residents affected by the fire. All residents affected by the fire have been accounted for. The Red Cross was also responding for victim's assistance.