Niagara Falls firefighters were called a Niagara Regional Housing co-op building late Tuesday morning after fire broke out in a second-floor apartment unit.
The call came at 11:40 a.m. about a fire in one of the two apartment buildings at Shriner’s Creek Co-operative Housing at 7887 Thorold Stone Rd.
Chief Jo Zambito said firefighters arrived to see heavy black smoke coming from the window on the second floor of the 28-unit, three-floor walk-up.
He said the alarms were sounding, and the entire building was safely evacuated.
Crews contained the fire to the originating unit, which was empty at the time the fire started. There were no injuries.
“The crews did an excellent job of knocking down the fire very, very quickly,” he said.
The department is investigating the cause of the fire.
Residents were permitted to return to their units, though firefighters remained to continue to ventilate the building and monitor carbon monoxide levels.
Co-operatives are owned and managed by the members who live in the units. They differ from other non-profit housing in that members are required to volunteer their time to help with their operation.