(Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS) AMR ambulance personnel assist evacuees of the Tyler Street apartment fire across the street to the lobby of the similar building where people gathered to stay warm.

NASHUA — Residents of one of the two Nashua Housing Authority high-rise apartment buildings are trickling back into their apartments following the weekend fire that gutted an eighth-floor unit at 57 Tyler St.

Firefighters, police and AMR ambulance personnel were called to the building, which has nine stories in all and mirrors a similar building at 56 Tyler St., for an apartment fire.

Arriving firefighters reported flames and smoke coming from the window of the eighth-floor apartment, one of roughly 50 apartments in the building.

Due to the size of the building, the fact a number of residents are disabled and weather conditions that included single-digit temperatures, command officers immediately struck a second alarm in order to bring additional apparatus, manpower and ambulances to the scene.

Upon arrival, firefighters and police officers worked to evacuate the residents from the building, as smoke began to fill some of the hallways.

(Courtesy photo) Smoke billows from an eighth-floor apartment window as a firefighter works from a ladder to knock down the fire. The blaze remains under investigation.

Evacuees were directed to the lobby of 56 Tyler St., where they kept warm while awaiting word on when they could return.

Nashua Fire Rescue Deputy Chief James Kirk said that while sprinklers in the apartment of origin knocked down the fire, the water quickly began flowing down to floors below, causing significant damage.

Kirk said at least one resident was transported to a local hospital, but the extent and nature of his or her injuries wasn’t known.

Crews carried bundles of tarps into the building to work on salvage operations and while trying to protect furniture and other items from water damage.

The cause remains under investigation by members of the city Fire Marshal’s office.

–JEFFREY HASTINGS

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