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Gene Kennedy ReportingSmoke fills a downtown Salt Lake City building, forcing college students to get out in a hurry in the middle of the night.
Jessica Vautrain, Resident: "I opened my door and the hallway was filled with smoke, so I ran around banging on all the doors telling everyone to get out, that there was a fire."
This story proves it pays to be up late doing homework. One of the college students who lives there normally goes to bed early, but she had a late night. Around 1:30 this morning she noticed smoke filling one of the hallways.
Jessica Vautrain, Resident: "I was really nervous. I wasn't sure if I was overreacting, but I started banging on all the doors, just screaming for everybody to get out."
Esther Thompson, Resident: "She banged pretty hard, too. She never stays up until 1:30, but she did today."
Firefighters had to evacuate 22 students from a dozen apartments. It took about a half hour for 30 firefighters to get this under control.
No final word how this fire started, but investigators say transients living in the basement may be to blame.
Firefighters contained it in the basement, but there's still heavy smoke damage to the building.
No one was injured. The students go to the College of Massage Therapy. They will probably need to stay in hotels for the next couple of days.
