Fire damages historic Newark apartment building, displaces residents

NEWARK, Ohio (WCMH) – A historic apartment building stands vacant after a fire on Saturday displaced those living inside. The Newark Fire Department said a fire broke out at Avalon Apartments on West Main Street. They said there were no injuries, but according to the department, there is major concern about the building collapsing. An [...]

NEWARK, Ohio (WCMH) – A historic apartment building stands vacant after a fire on Saturday displaced those living inside.

The Newark Fire Department said a fire broke out at Avalon Apartments on West Main Street. They said there were no injuries, but according to the department, there is major concern about the building collapsing. 

An area is blocked off around the building. Newark Fire said as many as 40 people could be displaced, but they are still finalizing that number.

During the department’s efforts to extinguish the fire, they say the building became unstable and they had to evacuate everyone, including the firefighters.

One woman who has owned a business in Newark for more than 50 years said the sight of the burned building makes her sad and shared that many people who have lived there over the years have come to her restaurant.

"I hope that they try to build it back. That's what I hope they do. Maybe look the same way it is," the Draft House owner Eula Rizzo said. 

The Red Cross is helping people who were displaced by the fire. Its disaster response team was on site Saturday and will be working with those who lived in the apartments in the coming weeks.