Jolted awake by the fire alarm, Mahesh Goswami opened his apartment curtains and found a wall of flames.
“It was coming from the upstairs down,” the 31-year-old recalled Wednesday morning, as he calmly watched firefighters douse the smoldering remains of his north Lincoln apartment building.
Goswami and his wife grabbed their son and daughter, ages 2 years and 7 months, and rushed outside as neighbors in Building 5027 of Black Sand Apartment Homes pounded on doors to make sure everyone escaped.
Lincoln fire investigators believe an improperly discarded cigarette is to blame for the blaze, which caused $2.5 million damage, displaced more than 50 people and ranks among the city's most significant residential fires in recent years.