All of the units were vacant, although the front part of the complex is still occupied, he said.
Crews set up defensive operations because the buildings were well involved in flames when they arrived, Meyer said, noting, "We knocked down what we could."
No one was hurt. He estimated the damage at $160,000.
A fire investigator was called to the scene, Meyer said, because all the utilities to the buildings had been turned off and the buildings were boarded up.
Crews would probably be on site the rest of the evening because of the size and scope of the damage, he said.
EARLIER:
Smoke is billowing from an apartment fire tonight in Dayton.
Crews were called just after 8 p.m. to a report of a fire in the 3000 block of Cornell Drive off Gettysburg Avenue.
The fire reportedly broke out in a vacant three-story building.
An arson investigator was called to the scene.
There is no word on what started the fire.
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