Two Ocala residents and four family pets were rescued from an apartment fire Friday night.
Crews from Ocala Fire Rescue were called to the Berkley Pointe Apartments, located at 2843 NE 7th St., shortly before 8 p.m. When they arrived, firefighters found black smoke coming from a first-story apartment.
Fire crews secured the scene, identifying two people on the second floor in need of rescue. They gained access to one of the second-floor residents through a window, while the other was escorted downstairs through the apartment corridors.
The fire was called under control by 8:05 p.m. and extinguished five minutes later. Two parakeets, a dog and a turtle also were rescued, an Ocala Fire Rescue report says.
There were no injuries and the cause of the blaze remains under investigation. The Ocala Police Department, Ocala Electric Utility and Marion County Fire Rescue also responded to the incident.
