A pregnant woman was pulled from a fire that destroyed a Nicholasville building built more than 200 years ago.
It happened near North First Street and West Walnut in downtown Nicholasville.
The nearest fire station is about a minute and a half from the historic building, but when firefighters arrived the whole bottom floor was engulfed in flames. That’s led investigators to label this fire suspicious.
With fire moving fast, firefighters made a quick sweep of the building where they found a pregnant woman.
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“Crews along with a sheriff’s officer pulled a lady from the front room on the first floor. Got her out successfully,” said Nicholasville Fire Battalion Chief David Johns.
The extent of her injuries is unknown.
With the building clear, firefighters went to work trying to stop the fire that spread quickly through the historic building.
In addition to the Nicholasville Fire Department, firefighters from Jessamine County, Wilmore and Lexington helped fight the fire.
According to the Jessamine County circuit clerk, the log cabin portion was built in 1804 making it the second oldest building in Nicholasville.
Since then its been added on to and converted into apartments, which made fighting the flames difficult.
“It’s cut up and just a dangerous place for firefighters to fight fire,” said Battalion Chief Johns.
With the structure unstable, crews had to go into defensive mode using ladder trucks to fight the fire from above. Smoke filled downtown Nicholasville as flames shot from the old building.
“When we got upstairs and looked out our side window you could see the flames shooting as high as the ladder had already reached its height,” said Margaret Landis, who lives on Main St. and spotted the fire from her home.
“There’s no hope. That place is gone,” she said.
The building is considered a total loss and it’s still unclear what caused the fire.
Crews will be out at the scene throughout the night and into the morning as they continue their investigation.
