UPDATE: 2 under-construction apartment buildings burn in Waterloo

WATERLOO, Iowa --- Strong winds fueled a two-building construction fire and threatened an occupied apartment building downwind before being contained Monday afternoon.

Waterloo firefighters were called to blaze at a partially constructed apartment building near Mount Olivet Cemetery on West Fourth Street shortly after 5 p.m.

When they arrived, crews were unable to stop flames from jumping to the other apartment building also under construction, according to part-owner of the buildings, DuWayne Wessels.

As the wind grew, there was no way they could contain it, Wessels said, watching firefighters continue to spray the blackened remains of both buildings.

Aided by the bare timber and wind, flames shot hundreds of feet in the air for more than half an hour. It also snaked along about 100 yards down a treeline, threatening an occupied apartment building and a garage further downwind.

No injuries were reported as of Monday night, and the cause hasnt been determined.

Pat Treloar, director of fire services for Waterloo, said crews will stay on the scene overnight to keep embers in check and protect the scene until morning when the investigation resumes.

Holly Markovic, who lives in an upstairs apartment at 3844 W. Fourth St., said her son came to her complaining that the apartment smelled like smoke.

Then I looked out the window and saw black smoke, she said.

She heard from a neighbor that someone had already called the fire department, so she went and knocked on her neighbors doors before evacuating the building.

Continued here:
UPDATE: 2 under-construction apartment buildings burn in Waterloo