Springfield firefighters had a busy morning Monday after two fires broke out within a half-hour of each other.
As of Monday afternoon, the cause of both fires remained under investigation.
Firefighters were called to an apartment building at 126 N. Walnut St. about 4:30 a.m. after a fire broke out inside one of the units. Everyone was able to get out of the building safely, and the fire was quickly extinguished before it spread to any other apartment, Springfield Division Chief Mark Hart said.
Hart estimated that there were about 12 apartments in the building.
The Red Cross was called in to help the woman who lived in the apartment where the fire started. A woman who lived in an apartment below the unit where the fire started was transported to Memorial Medical Center after she had breathing trouble due to the smoke.
Just as firefighters were finishing on North Walnut, they received a report of a fire at a residence at 1617 W. Capitol Ave. a little after 5 a.m. That fire was contained to the exterior, and did not get inside the structure.
The address was a residence. The fire department could not immediately say if it was a single-family residence or a house that had been converted into apartments.
Even though the fire did not extend into the residence, one man was displaced due to the fact that firefighters had to disconnect the utilities.