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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A contractor alerted residents their apartment building in South Wilkes-Barre was on fire Wednesday afternoon.</p><p>No one was injured and the occupants got out safely after Damian Ventura said he banged on the doors at 169 and 171 Charles St. Two cats perished and another was rescued, however.</p><p>Ventura said he was at an adjacent apartment building when he heard windows break. &#8220;The fire was coming out the first floor on the bottom,&#8221; Ventura said of what he saw at 171 Charles St.</p><p>Firefighters arrived within minutes of the 1:48 a.m. alarm and knocked down the flames. Deputy Fire Chief Alan Klapat said the first-floor apartment sustained extensive damage and the fire extended into the second-floor apartment. A fire investigator was called to determine the cause, Klapat said.</p><p>The 171 side will be unhabitable for a while, Klapat said. The residents on the other side will be put into temporary shelter and allowed to return.</p><p>A woman and her son escaped from their second floor apartment at 171 Charles St. , Klapat said. A woman who lived on the first floor was not home, he said.</p><p>Allain Major got out of 169 Charles with his 17-month old son, Avien. &#8220;I was putting my baby down for a nap,&#8221; Major said.</p><p>Major said there was an odd smell in his home and heard Ventura&#8217;s banging.</p><p>&#8220;He seen smoke coming from the left side window,&#8221; Major said.</p><p>The woman in the upstairs apartment was in the shower and grabbed her son, Major said. &#8220;She ran out naked. I had to get her a blanket,&#8221; he said.</p><p>She declined comment afterward as she held her sleeping child.</p><p>&#8220;My wife and son were here when the fire started. I just left work to come here,&#8221; her husband Marcus Robinson Jr. said. Near a gurney on the street outside his apartment Robinson held their blind female cat, Mayday, that was rescued by a firefighter from a closet.</p><p>Two cats died in the first floor apartment where the fire apparently started. Major said he let out his dogs into the backyard and carried out Succy, a miniature greyhound.</p><p>Firefighters had no problems and none were injured, Klapat said. &#8220;We had good water, couldn&#8217;t be more perfect right in front of the house,&#8221; Klapat said.</p><p>Firefighters on Engine 1 were doing water rescue training on the Susquehanna River when the alarm came in and had to respond from the boat launch in Nesbitt Park, Klapat said. &#8220;We had Hanover (Township) come because we were responding from the boat launch and we also called them for our Rapid Intervention Team, &#8221; he said of the assistance from the neighboring municipality.</p><p>Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s Engine 2 and aerial ladder Truck 6 also responded.</p><p>Some residents at the scene said they tried to call 911 and were put on hold. A 911 supervisor said that can happen if there is a high volume of calls coming in at the time.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wilkes-Barre firefighters quickly knocked down flames Wednesday afternoon in an apartment building on Charles Street. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_TTL042519fire1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wilkes-Barre firefighters quickly knocked down flames Wednesday afternoon in an apartment building on Charles Street. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_TTL042519fire2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wilkes-Barre Deputy Fire Chief Alan Klapat said the first-floor apartment at 171 Charles St. sustained extensive damage Wednesday afternoon. Fire extended to the second-floor apartment, making the residences uninhabitable.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_TTL042519fire2-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wilkes-Barre Deputy Fire Chief Alan Klapat said the first-floor apartment at 171 Charles St. sustained extensive damage Wednesday afternoon. Fire extended to the second-floor apartment, making the residences uninhabitable.  </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_TTL042519fire3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A contractor alerted residents their apartment building at 169-171 Charles St. in Wilkes-Barre was on fire Wednesday afternoon and all the residents home at the time safely escaped. Two cats perished and another was rescued. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_TTL042519fire3-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>A contractor alerted residents their apartment building at 169-171 Charles St. in Wilkes-Barre was on fire Wednesday afternoon and all the residents home at the time safely escaped. Two cats perished and another was rescued. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_Mayday-rescued-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Marcus Robinson Jr., center, calms his blind cat Mayday as Wilkes-Barre Fire Department paramedic Mike Stadulis, right, has oxygen at the ready for the feline that was rescued from a fire Wednesday afternoon at a Charles Street apartment building. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_Mayday-rescued-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Marcus Robinson Jr., center, calms his blind cat Mayday as Wilkes-Barre Fire Department paramedic Mike Stadulis, right, has oxygen at the ready for the feline that was rescued from a fire Wednesday afternoon at a Charles Street apartment building. </caption3><photoCredit3>Jerry Lynott | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_Mayday-rescued-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Marcus Robinson Jr., center, calms his blind cat Mayday as Wilkes-Barre Fire Department paramedic Mike Stadulis, right, has oxygen at the ready for the feline that was rescued from a fire Wednesday afternoon at a Charles Street apartment building. Jerry Lynott | Times Leader </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_Mayday-rescued-2.jpg</photo4><caption4>Marcus Robinson Jr., center, calms his blind cat Mayday as Wilkes-Barre Fire Department paramedic Mike Stadulis, right, has oxygen at the ready for the feline that was rescued from a fire Wednesday afternoon at a Charles Street apartment building. Jerry Lynott | Times Leader </caption4><photoCredit4>Jerry Lynott | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_Mayday-rescued-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Marcus Robinson Jr., center, calms his blind cat Mayday as Wilkes-Barre Fire Department paramedic Mike Stadulis, right, has oxygen at the ready for the feline that was rescued from a fire Wednesday afternoon at a Charles Street apartment building. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_Mayday-rescued-3.jpg</photo5><caption5>Marcus Robinson Jr., center, calms his blind cat Mayday as Wilkes-Barre Fire Department paramedic Mike Stadulis, right, has oxygen at the ready for the feline that was rescued from a fire Wednesday afternoon at a Charles Street apartment building. </caption5><photoCredit5>Jerry Lynott | Times Leader </photoCredit5></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Blind cat ‘Mayday’ rescued from WB house fire