The Kinston Department of Fire and Rescue extinguished the blaze at the Kinston Village complex Tuesday morning. Photo by Catherine Hardee / Neuse News

A fire broke out Tuesday morning at a Kinston apartment, sending one resident to the hospital. 

Captain William Barss of the Kinston Department of Fire and Rescue said the call came in around 9:40 a.m. of a fire at an apartment in the Kinston Village Apartments complex off Rouse Road. 

When units arrived on the scene from the nearby Fire Station Two, flames and smoke were visible inside the upstairs apartment and smoke had traveled through the attic of the building, Barss said.

Additional trucks from other stations, as well as a unit from North Lenoir Volunteer Fire Department, responded to the fire. Barss said it took firefighters about twenty minutes once they arrived on scene to get the fire under control.

The source of the flames, Barss said, was the kitchen of the unit.

“The gentleman arrived home from working night shift and started cooking dinner, but he fell asleep while cooking and unfortunately it started a fire,” Barss said.

About a quarter of the apartment was destroyed by the flames, and the rest was heavily damaged by the smoke. 

A resident of a neighboring apartment said she heard noises outside her open door. Initially, she thought it was a joke, but it turned out to be her neighbor, coughing and asking for help.

“As soon as I opened the door, I saw flames and smoke coming out of his apartment,” the neighbor said. “I grabbed my son, got downstairs and called 911. It was scary — I didn’t want to be trapped upstairs by the fire.”

Barss said the resident was transported to UNC Lenoir Hospital as a precaution. None of the other units in the building were damaged by the flames, though there was some smoke damage to the unit directly beside the one that caught fire. 

Barss said there was a smoke detector in the apartment, but he did not know yet whether that was what woke the resident.