A fire heavily damaged the apartment complex at 515 Sixth St., Parkersburg, Thursday night. The fire was reported about 5:45 p.m., Fire Chief Jason Matthews said. (Photo by Christina Myer)

PARKERSBURG — One person was injured Thursday night after he jumped out of a window from a burning apartment house in Parkersburg.

Kaleb Townsend said he helped his cousin Leon Brown jump from the third floor of the apartment house at 515 Sixth St. Brown suffered leg injuries and was taken to WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center.

“He didn’t want to jump,” Townsend said.

Townsend said he alerted everyone in the apartment house of the fire and told them to get out. The building was on fire at the time, he said.

“I got everybody out,” he said. “The only thing I’m not sure about getting out was the cat.”

A ladder is positioned to pump water into the top floor of an apartment at 315 Sixth St. that caught on fire Thursday evening. One man was hurt when he jumped from a window. (Photo by Jess Mancini)

A resident who declined to be identified said he was afraid for his cat and whether it had gotten out of the apartment. He said he was going to look for the cat, but decided to get out of the place.

The fire was reported about 5:45 p.m. Thursday, Fire Chief Jason Matthews said.

The apartment was burning when the fire department arrived a few minutes later, Matthews said. It was under control in several minutes, he said.

“We got her knocked down,” Matthews said.

About a dozen people got out of the apartment, he said.

A fire heavily damaged the apartment complex at 515 Sixth St., Parkersburg, Thursday night. The fire was reported about 5:45 p.m., Fire Chief Jason Matthews said. (Photo by Christina Myer)

“Everybody did get out,” Matthews said. “One person was transported with a leg injury.”

Streets around the apartment were closed to traffic. A train was stopped on the tracks on the bridge.

A tenant who was pregnant was taken to the hospital after 7 p.m. as a precaution, Savanna Brown, who lived in the building but wasn’t home, said. Savanna was nearby, saw the flames and ran to the fire.

Jennifer Snyder, a resident, said she heard somebody yell “fire.” She opened her door and was encountered by smoke.

Snyder said she made it down the stairs by taking a deep breath and running as fast as she could.

A firefighter prepares to enter the structure at 515 Sixth St. in Parkersburg where about a dozen people were at home at the time of a fire, about 5:45 p.m. Everyone got out, but one man was injured when he jumped from a window. (Photo by Christina Myer)

Townsend said the fire appeared to have started on a porch.

Four apartments are in the structure, Matthews said.

A cause has not been determined, Matthews said. The department sent four engines, two ladder trucks, a rescue and a command vehicle and 20 firefighters.

Two American Red Cross volunteers arrived about 7:30 p.m. to help the displaced residents. It was the second time in two days the Red Cross was dispatched to a local fire, the first was Tuesday afternoon at the WinBeri Place Apartments on Virginia Street in Marietta.

Christina Myer contributed.

A fire heavily damaged the apartment complex at 515 Sixth St., Parkersburg, Thursday night. The fire was reported about 5:45 p.m., Fire Chief Jason Matthews said. (Photo by Christina Myer)

Jess Mancini can be reached at jmancini@newsandsentinel.com

Nancy Taylor can be reached at ntaylor@newsandsentinel.com

Kaleb Townsend said he helped his cousin Leon Brown out of the burning apartment house at 515 Sixth St., Parkersburg. Brown suffered leg injuries from jumping out of the burning structure and was taken to WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center, Townsend said. (Photo by Jess Mancini)