ROCKFORD — Firefighters are battling a fire as heavy smoke pours from the two-story Buckingham Square Apartments building in the 4100 block of Florida Drive.
Shortly before 1 p.m., a resident of the apartment complex went outside and flagged down a Rockford Fire Department vehicle that was headed to another call from Station No. 11, which is next door to the apartment building.
Residents of the apartment building have been evacuated, and no injuries have been reported. Residents were directed to Station No. 11 and later to a waiting RMTD bus parked nearby to stay warm.
A building manager told the Register Star that the apartment building contains 18 units. The building has sustained significant smoke and water damage as thick smoke continued to pour out of the building an hour after the fire began.
Robert Johnson, 36, lives in a lower unit in the apartment building where the fire occurred. He waited inside his van parked in the apartment building parking lot with his fiancee, Nicole Brown.
He said he had just gotten out of the shower when Brown told him she smelled smoke.
"I kind of caught a hint of it, too," he said. "And then I heard what sounded like an explosion, but I think it was just firefighters breaking the windows upstairs."
The couple evacuated their apartment and immediately smelled smoke, heard the sound of at least one smoke alarm, and saw that firefighters were already on scene connecting hoses.
"The smoke was real thick by now," Johnson said. "You looked up and you could see that the whole apartment was pretty much on fire. The fire was coming out the windows and they were just getting set up out here to battle it on this (east) side with hoses and things."
Rockford Fire Chief Derek Bergsten said the apartments are separated by fire walls. He also said the fire was in the ceiling and he did not know if the blaze was being contained.
The cause of the fire as well as a damage estimate has yet to be determined.
Check back for more information later today.
Chris Green: 815-987-1241; cgreen@rrstar.com; @chrisfgreen