Fire damages Gastonia apartment early Saturday

Firefighters battled a fire early Saturday at a two-apartment complex at 1410 S. Marietta St. in Gastonia.

When firefighters arrived just after 6:45 a.m., smoke and flames were coming out of the front and sides of one of the units. They entered the burning unit and in 15 minutes had the fire extinguished. Both apartments were occupied – but no one sustained serious injuries, spokesman Chris Stowe said.

The occupant of the apartment on fire was alerted by a smoke detector. After trying to put out the fire, he suffered minor smoke inhalation and burn injuries, but did not need treatment, Stowe said.

The occupants in the other apartment got out without injuries.

Cause of the fire, which caused $50,000 in damages, is still under investigation.

This story was originally published May 2, 2015 at 10:23 AM with the headline "Fire damages Gastonia apartment early Saturday."