Fourteen people have been displaced following a fire at a three-story building on Stark Street in Utica early Wednesday morning.
Fire officials say flames started in a second-floor apartment toward the back of the building above the former Spilka’s restaurant located at the corner of Stark and Noyes streets.
Fire officials arrived at the scene around 4 a.m. to find smoke and fire coming from the second floor. Because of the fire conditions and the number of people still inside the building, officials upgraded it to a second alarm fire.
Firefighters were able to safely evacuate all of the residents and contain the fire to the room where it started.
"Luckily, when the fire was reported, the apartment door remained closed. The occupant of the apartment was not in there at the time of the fire and it remained into that area with smoke throughout the building," said Chief Scott Ingersoll.