BREAKING NEWS: Destin firefighters respond to Niceville apartment fire (PHOTOS)

Noon UPDATE: The 84-year-old survivor of an overnight fire at an apartment complex in Niceville is safe at her son's Bluewater Bay home, along with her elderly cat.

View photos from the scene of the fire »

Anne Rank was the first resident of the College Gardens Apartments when they opened on Madison Street in 1992, according to her son, John Porche. She was the last one out of the fully engulfed apartment complex Tuesday morning.

Thomas Kilpatrick, who lives in a neighboring complex, pounded on the back door of her ground floor unit until she responded.

Kilpatrick, one of two maintenance men for College Gardens, shrugged it all off when asked about saving her life.

"I told her to get out," he said. "You got to go."

But Porche, who was trying to salvage some of his mother's treasured possessions, said that Kilpatrick got his mom out with only moments to spare.

"If it wasn't for him, I don't think she would have been able to get out," he said. "She has arthritis real bad.

"She's in kind of a state of shock right now," he added. "It happened so fast and to lose 84 years of your history -- it's just gone."

Flames were already coming through the front of her one-bedroom apartment and into the closet of her bedroom, where she was lying on the bed.

Rank told her son that Kilpatrick pounded on the back door until she grabbed Shannon the cat and made it through the living room.

"He grabbed her, shoved her out," Porche said. "They were just within minutes of having her pass out (from the smoke.)"

Before arriving at the fire, crews had been told an elderly woman might still be trapped inside. Their focus when they first arrived on scene was trying to reach her, according to Niceville Fire Chief Tommy Mayville. Later, they learned that she had safely escaped.

The two-alarm fire gutted six apartment units in the front building and destroyed one in a neighboring building, Mayville said. He estimated that it caused at least $1.2 million in damage, which included six vehicles parked out front.

The fire is believed to have been started by someone tossing a "smoking material" off the second floor onto a bag outside a unit on the first floor, Mayville said.

The fire made its way to the second floor, where at least one occupant had to jump out the window to escape the flames. He landed on an air conditioning unit on the sidewalk below and was not injured, Mayville said.

No one in any of the units was injured.

Two firefighters from Eglin, who had fought a fire at Camp Pinchot Sunday afternoon, were taken to the hospital on Eglin, where they were treated and released. One suffered a back injury, while the other had heat exhaustion.

Firefighters from Destin, Ocean City, South Walton, Eglin, East Niceville, North Bay and Valparaiso assisted at the scene.

Seven families were left homeless. The Red Cross has been called in to assist them.

Firefighters were able to save four units, which were separated from the rest of the building by a fire wall.

Marquita Dooley, who lives next door and is Kilpatrick's cousin, was sitting at her computer, talking to her son in Iraq, when she heard a "pop" at about 1:30. She looked outside and could see the flames reflected off the trees and the cars parked out front, which is when she called 911.

She said that when her cousin came out of his unit, the first thing out of his mouth was "Where's Ms. Rank?" 

Kilpatrick resisted all efforts to be drawn out about his heroic act. Fellow maintenance man Patrick Holcomb said that's just how he was.

"He doesn't like a lot of attention, but he does what he's supposed to do," Holcomb said.  

10 A.M. UPDATE: A fire at the College Garden Apartments on Madison Street early Tuedsay in Niceville caused an estimated $1.2 million in damage and left seven families homeless.

Fire departments were called out at about 1:30 a.m. to reports of the two-story apartment complex burning and an elderly female possibly trapped inside, according to Niceville Fire Chief Tommy Mayville.

View photos from the scene of the fire »

When the first trucks arrived, six apartment units, which sit off Palm Boulevard, were fully involved, he said.

"All our attention was focused on (one of the) upstairs apartments due to the possibility of entrapment," he said. The woman was not trapped, firefighters learned later.

Mayville said the cause of the fire appeared to be a "smoking material" flicked from the second-floor balcony that landed on a bag on the first floor. The bag caught fire, spread to a nearby first-floor apartment and then up to the second floor.

A man in a second-floor unit jumped out of his window and landed on an air conditioner, but was not hurt, Mayville said.

Firefighters from Destin, Ocean City, South Walton, Eglin, East Niceville and North Bay assisted at the scene.

Two firefighters from Eglin, who had fought a fire at Camp Pinchot Sunday afternoon, were injured during the effort. One suffered heat exhaustion, while the other twisted his back, Mayville said.

Both were treated and released from Eglin's hospital.

In addition to gutting six units and making a seventh unlivable, the fire destroyed six vehicles and caused $50,000 in damage to another nearby building, Mayville said.

Seven families were left homeless. The Red Cross has been called in to assist them.

Firefighters were able to save four units.

CHECK BACK FOR MORE DETAILS

7 A.M. UPDATE: NICEVILLE — First responders are still on the scene of an apartment fire that started early Tuesday morning.

The fire on Madison Street has extended to four units at the complex. According to Capt. Dennis Mark with East Niceville Fire Department, the fire started around 1:30 a.m.

Mark said there were no injuries, but several vehicles and a motorcycle parked near the units were destroyed in the fire.

East Niceville Fire and Ocean-City Wright assisted Niceville Fire Department on the call.

The State Fire Marshal's Office will handle the investigation if cause is not determined.

Check back for more details.