O’FALLON, Mo. – A three-alarm fire at an O’Fallon apartment building forced dozens of residents out of their homes on Tuesday. Luckily, all of the residents made it out safely, and firefighters rescued several pets.

Residents said they don’t know what to expect when they are allowed to go inside their apartments at The Enclave at Winghaven.

“You know, we have to find a place to live now. It could have been worse. I don’t know what to think yet because I don’t know how bad it is,” Tony Scharf said.

Scharf said a neighbor texted him at work, letting him know their building was on fire.

“The whole roof was on fire; they had the ladder trucks spraying the roof,” he said.

Video from Bommarito Automotive Group SkyFOX helicopter showed flames coming from the roof of Winghaven Building 6.

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Firefighters believe the fire began outside and quickly spread to the attic.

“So, it’s got attic ventilation all the way through the thing and once it gets up in the attic, it pretty much runs all the way to a fire wall,” Wentzville Fire Chief Steve Mosher said.

Mosher said they received the 911 call just before 11 a.m. He said the apartment building has 24 units in it. Firefighters went door-to-door, notifying people in the building.

The chief said another concern was the number of pets inside the building.

“I tried to run straight up and just get my dog out. They obviously stopped me,” Scharf said.

Firefighters said they brought out at least four pets, including Scharf’s dog and his neighbor’s cats.

“She was beside herself because, obviously, worse up where she is and she has two cats,” Scharf said. “You’re thinking the worst but they were able to get into her apartment and also get her cats out too. So I guess it could have been worse.”

Red Cross was called to the scene to help residents.

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