ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — A fire at a historic apartment complex in north St. Louis County forced dozens of people out of their homes Thursday afternoon.
Firefighters from nearly a dozen departments worked together to put out the fire at the Castle Park Apartments in Normandy at 1600 Castle Park Drive.
The apartment building and the adjacent Normandy Nursing Center were evacuated.
Our reporter on the scene was able to confirm from firefighters that the fire started on the roof and burned down into the building.
There were several injuries, but they were all heat-related after evacuation, not because of the fire itself, the Northeast Ambulance and Fire Protection District chief said.
The residents of the Normandy Nursing Center were able to return to their building Thursday night, but not all apartment residents were as lucky. Red Cross representatives on the scene said they were placing 42 families in hotels.
The apartment complex used to be the home of St. Vincent's Hospital and is on the national register of historic places.
Here's how the property management group who owns the building describes it on its website:
"Welcome to Castle Park Apartments, a one-of-a-kind historic home. Built in 1891 for St. Vincent’s Hospital, this Victorian castle with Renaissance Revival architecture is on the National Register of Historic Places. Sold in 1983 and converted to apartments, Castle Park was extensively renovated and improved for affordable housing in 2011 and again in 2014. Castle Park offers a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartment homes in this remarkable building featuring marble floors, French tile slate roof with some of the original fixtures including copper gutters."
