May 30, 2023

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SOMERSET, Ky. (WKYT) – Renee Lewis says she was jolted out of bed when she heard sirens wailing outside her home about 2 a.m. Friday.

“I look out and there’s the street full of EMS and fire trucks,” she said.

Management officials of the Beecher House in downtown Somerset say their residents were evacuated when a fire was spotted in the building.

They say all their residents are over the age of 62 or disabled.

With just a few feet separating her home from the Beecher House, Lewis worried the fire would spread.

“I sat right beside my husband and I waited for a knock on our door telling us to leave,” Lewis said.

According to fire officials, the flames never made it past a room on the seventh floor.

Management officials say a disabled man lived there and was stuck, so he had to be rescued by fire crews.

We’re told he was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.

Investigators are still trying to figure out what started the fire but they are calling it suspicious, according to management officials.

“It’s very sad because that building is for elderly people,” said Lewis.

Residents were allowed back into their rooms Saturday morning.

Fire officials say there is water and smoke damage on all seven floors of the building

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