A city fire official credited working fire alarms with helping to safely evacuate residents during a fire at an apartment around 12:41 a.m. Saturday on West Cunningham Street.

The renter of Apartment 6 at 238 W. Cunningham St. tried to extinguish the fire before being forced to leave for his safety, according to Lt. Don Crawford of the Butler Bureau of Fire.

The tenant was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital for evaluation.

When firefighters arrived, they found the blaze had crept up the walls of the apartment and onto the tenant's belongings, but it had not moved beyond the one apartment.

“Some clothing, the wall and the door and carpeted area were all on fire,” Crawford said. “Plastic components, like the TV, were starting to melt.”

Crawford said firefighters made quick work of extinguishing the flames, which he estimated took about 8 minutes.

“We removed the front window and an air conditioner to ventilate,” Crawford said. “We soaked everything down and moved everything around to investigate.”

Despite a quick knockdown, the damage had been done.

Crawford said the apartment was heavily damaged by smoke and heat, and was not livable.

He said city Chief Christopher Switala investigated.

“It appears to be accidental with an unknown cause,” Crawford said.

VA Volunteer Fire Department and Butler Township Volunteer Fire Department, Butler City Police and Butler Ambulance assisted at the scene.