Firefighters and residents are stressing the importance of smoke detectors, after everyone safely escaped a fire early Thursday at Downing Place apartments in Tuscaloosa.
Firefighters say the fire, which started before 4 a.m., started in a downstairs unit, then spread to an upstairs unit, doing heavy damage to both. Two other apartments suffered smoke damage. Investigators are still working to determine the exact cause of the fire. Resident Monakia Johnson said she heard the smoke detector going off, and quickly got out of her apartment.