A kitchen fire at the New Hope Apartments in Downtown Peoria caused $75,000 in damage and forced eight to find temporary shelter.
Members of the Peoria Fire Department were called to the complex, 301 NE Jefferson Ave., at about 6:30 a.m. Sunday on a report of a smoke detector alarm.
When they arrived, they found heavy smoke on the building’s fifth floor. A unit on that floor had a sprinkler activated and smoke coming from inside.
There was also a small fire on the stove and counter top in the unit. Firefighters shut the stove off and extinguished the remaining fire.
While one group put out the fire, other firefighters checked surrounding apartments to evacuate residents. Multiple units in the complex suffered water damage on that floor and also on the floor below.