DE PERE — A quiet morning in De Pere was interrupted by the sound of several fire trucks, police vehicles, and ambulances rushing down Broadway.
Crews were dispatched to the Crow's Nest apartments at around 9:15 AM for a report of flames and smoke showing in one of the buildings. Fire crews were able to enter the building and quickly contain the fire.
Victoria Braatz said she was trying to sleep at the time when she heard noises from down the hall. "All of a sudden I heard fire department! I got clothes on right away, got a bag ready, then all of a sudden they're knocking at my door and I was like oh no," said Braatz.
Like many other residents, the sudden evacuation came as a shock for Braatz. She had never gone through anything quite like this before.
"My initial response was money, keys, I got to work soon, then leave. Then I remembered I have an animal," said Braatz.
Residents sat and watch as Broadway was quickly filled with firetrucks from the surrounding area including Ledgeview, Ashwaubenon, Green Bay, Hobart, and several others.
After a while, those who in neighboring buildings in the complex were allowed back in to their apartments. The Red Cross arrived on the scene quickly to assist those who were displaced by the fire.
Pat Brant is a Red Cross volunteer at the Green Bay branch. He says the response changes depending on if the fire is an apartment building or a single family home.
"What we hope to do is to be able to talk to all of the residents and kind of get an idea of who has a place to stay, who doesn't have a place to stay, how impacted the individual apartments are, so this could take a little while," said Brant.
The Brown County Fire Investigation team is still investigating the cause of the fire. Four apartments were damaged by the blaze and the damage was estimated at around $200,000.
