Authorities said five people were rescued and 64 residents were displaced after a three-alarm fire hit the Walter G. Sellers Senior Apartments Sunday night at 270 Mt. Vernon Dr.

Xenia Fire Chief Kenneth Riggsby said firefighters received the first alarm around 7:51 p.m. When they arrived, Riggsby said there was heavy fire on the west side of the building.

Riggsby said he sounded a second alarm and then sounded a third alarm. The additional alarm calls brought firefighters from every department in Greene County.

Residents are all seniors, challenged or disabled, and 33 of those displaced by the fire spent the night at a Red Cross shelter at the First Church of Christ.

Riggsby noted that the building is all wood, and there was no fire protection inside.

“We have four apartments burned on the third floor, he said, “and on the roof.”

Riggsby said apartments on the second floor were also damaged.

The chief said that five people were rescued because smoke on the third floor was so thick that they could not get out.

“The state fire marshal is here investigating” said Riggsby.

He added that it took firefighters about an hour and a half to bring the flames under control.

He said the building can be repaired. But he added that damage is extensive.

Riggsby did not have an immediate dollar estimate of the loss.