About 50 residents displaced by Woodstock apartment building fire

About 50 people were displaced early Saturday by a fire that caused extensive damage to a Woodstock apartment building, authorities said.

A man from a neighboring building was walking his dog when he spotted the blaze and called 911 shortly after 3 a.m., officials said. He also started ringing door bells to alert residents to the fire in the building in the 2100 block of Willow Brooke Drive.

Firefighters found flames pouring out of two balconies and extending into the attic of the two-story, 32-unit building, Woodstock Fire/Rescue District Captain Brendan Parker said.

It took crews about two hours to bring the fire under control, but they remained at the scene through late Saturday morning to extinguish hidden flames and help families retrieve belongings.

Firefighters estimated the blaze caused about $2.3 million in damage to the building and its contents, but that tally could climb as insurance companies review the uninhabitable structure, Parker said.

There was no indication of suspicious circumstances, though investigators are still trying to determine what sparked the fire, Parker said. The blaze appeared to start on a second-floor balcony.

One resident was taken to Centegra Hospital in Woodstock and later released. No firefighters were injured.