More than 60 residents of an apartment complex have been displaced after a building caught fire late Friday night, the Colorado Springs Fire Department said.

Fifty firefighters responded to the blaze at the Apex Apartments, 6480 Olympic Park Point, just east of Powers Boulevard near Woodmen Road. The department first tweeted about the fire shortly before 11:40 p.m. Firefighters had the blaze under control in about 90 minutes. The Fire Department said 64 residents were displaced from 34 apartments damaged by the fire. 

No injuries were reported as a result of the fire. The official cause is still under investigation but Gazette news partner KKTV reported that fire officials believe it was sparked by a lightning strike. 

One member of the community, Maggie Bennett, got some good news as firefighters used a ladder truck to enter a burned apartment from the outside and rescue her cat, Beau. Fire crews approached Bennett with a laundry basket after the rescue. Bennett was anxious to see if her cat made it. 

Beau let out a meow and started moving. Bennett cried as she took her sooty, wet cat from the laundry basket and gave him a hug. Beau was whisked off to an animal hospital to get checked out.

Officials with the American Red Cross said a shelter was created for those displaced during the immediate aftermath of the fire. The shelter has since closed and caseworkers are now at “work connecting those impacted to temporary housing, assisting with accessing insurance benefits, and assessing the need to issue Red Cross individual disaster assistance grants,” the organization said in a release.

The grants are given on an individual basis with respect to the damage a particular residence sustained and the socioeconomic need of the person affected. The grants are generally used to help those who have been displaced to recover and find temporary lodging, but the organization can deploy more resources on a case-by-case basis. 

Red Cross also is deploying medical, mental and spiritual health services for the incident.

According to John Seward, spokesman for the American Red Cross in Colorado and Wyoming, the number of displaced people is about average for fires that hit multifamily residences such as an apartment complex. Seward said there have been similar situations in Aurora, Boulder and Arvada this year.

Seward said anxiety and fear are what is most prominent in the minds of those displaced, which is why he said it’s important for Red Cross volunteers to simply listen when engaging with those who were recently forced from a living situation.

Seward said the 34 units suffered moderate to severe damage which, for the Red Cross, means that something is structurally wrong with the residence that needs repair before it can be inhabited again.

The Red Cross estimates it will spend approximately $50,000 in recovery efforts in regard to this incident.

Seward said the best way for those wishing to get involved to help out is to give at www.redcross.org/Colorado.  

Colorado Springs Fire Department extinguishes homeless camp fire on city’s southeast side

Colorado Springs Fire Department extinguishes grass fires