Jun. 21—A Portland woman woke up around 5 a.m. to flames and billowing smoke coming from the apartment building next door.

Ruth Ridge, 48, said she got a clearer look at the fire through her bathroom window, then woke up her nephew. She took him and her Chihuahua to Beal’s Ice Cream down the street to escape the fumes.

“There’s a lot of damage,” Ridge said. “I was concerned about my house.”

The fire in the three-unit apartment building at 23 Pembroke St. in Portland was reported shortly after 5 a.m. Friday, said Portland Fire Department spokesman Sean Donaghue.

He said the department struck a second alarm on Friday at 5:43 a.m. and a third alarm at 5:57 a.m. to bring more crews to the scene.

The call came after another fire was reported at the same apartment building Thursday afternoon during the afternoon storms. The seven people living there were evacuated then, so no one was in the building at the time of Friday morning’s fire, Donaghue said.

But he said the two fires do not seem to be related or suspicious.

Firefighters were still actively fighting the blaze at 8 a.m. Around 9:30 a.m., Donaghue said crews were working to find and extinguish any hot spots. The building appeared to have fire damage near the roof and several windows were broken. Crews appeared to be working on all three floors.

Veranda Street remained closed between Washington Avenue and Sherwood Street as of 10:30 a.m. Fire officials are asking people to avoid the area.

This story will be updated.

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