Two deputies suffer smoke inhalation rescuing residents from fire

BERRIEN COUNTY, Mich. -- Two Berrien County Sheriff’s deputies were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation sustained while evacuating residents from an apartment building that caught fire.

Berrien County dispatch received a call at 4:49 a.m. about a fire at an apartment building in the in the 1300 block of Leisure Lane in Niles Charter Township, according to the sheriff's office.

First responders saw flames coming from one of the apartments and learned the occupants had evacuated safely.

Deputies and officers from Buchanan Police entered the complex to evacuate the other occupants of the building, who were asleep when the fire broke out, deputies said.

The fire was under control at 5:41 a.m.

The American Red Cross is assisting the occupants who were displaced because of the fire.

Two deputies were taken to Spectrum Health Lakeland in Niles to be treated for smoke inhalation sustained while evacuating residents from surrounding apartments.

They were treated and released.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.