VILLAGE OF WATERFORD - A century-old apartment building and a connected duplex in the center of Waterford suffered extensive damage from a blaze Monday afternoon.

Up to 100 emergency responders were on the scene and came from 10 agencies across Walworth, Waukesha and Racine counties, according to Waterford Fire Chief Steve Denman.

Everyone safely evacuated the building, Denman said. Two firefighters, however, suffered minor injuries and rescue personnel continued to search for displaced animals into the evening.

Thick black smoke and flames were pouring from the building at 2 p.m., at times so thick the street was not visible. The building is one of the oldest and most recognizable in the area. It is the former Noll's Bank and housed three apartments and a pet grooming shop. The fire melted siding to reveal a metal bank sign. At 2:16 p.m. firefighters filed out of the building by an engine on the street that sounded its horn. Firefighters then began an aerial attack on the building.

The fire started in James Getz's upstairs apartment at 111 S. Second St. at around 1:15 p.m., according to reports.

"I ran in there to help and the whole side of the mattress was on fire," said Getz's neighbor Shannon Maher, 32. Her neighbors asked her to help put out the fire, but when she saw it, she knew it was too big.

Getz was not home at the time the fire started, but his girlfriend, infant daughter, young son and a babysitter were in the apartment. The fire department is still unsure of the exact cause and the fire is under investigation, Denman said.

"There are so many things in there that could have started it," Getz said.

Just last week he bought a new 42-inch television. That, along with his 300-plus DVDs and collectible NASCAR cars are lost forever.

"They are blasting that with water right now," Getz said looking at his apartment that is completely demolished. "It's depressing."

He doesn't have renter's

insurance and is one of at least three residents who lived in the apartment complex

and are dealing with that

same problem.

"I was just thinking now I can afford to get renter's insurance. It's a little too late now," said Dennis Peeper, 44, who lived next to Getz. Late into the afternoon he hadn't heard any update about the interior of his apartment.

Standing behind yellow caution tape, he stared up at his apartment on the second floor. There was an ambulance and fire truck separating him from the apartment building. The white curtains were still visible hanging from inside his apartment. But he has no idea about the rest of its condition.

The fire went to five alarms, which is considered very serious. It is a measure of how many people need to respond, Denman said.

"It was a five-alarm fire only because of the construction of the building and age of the building," Denman said. With plaster and lath walls, it made it very hard to get to the fire, Denman said.

Besides apartments being damaged, Roberta Connor stood anxiously waiting to find out the extent of the damage to her dog grooming shop, Top Dog Grooming, 105 S. Second St.

"I own the shop that is being destroyed," Connor said while watching the firefighters spray the fire. "It's like starting all over again."

Connor moved her shop from Wind Lake a year and a half ago and business was just starting to pick back up.

She will likely have to replace most of her equipment: dryers, clippers, washers and grooming tables. It will all add up. "Little things like scissors people think are cheap. They are over $100 apiece," Connor said. Inside her shop is the old safe from Noll's Bank where she keeps some of her stock. But most of her equipment is kept out in the open.

Next door, a small breezeway connected the apartment building to the duplex Tim Browne was renting at 301 E Main St.

All of his clothes, hunting guns, computer, titles to his vehicles, family pictures; it's all in there.

"It's all going to be damaged," Browne said. "You can't just throw it in the washing machine. There is all that toxic smoke."

As the fire department cleaned up the scene, the Red Cross was also there to provide emergency assistance including food, shelter and toiletries. To contact the Red Cross for assistance or to donate funds call (800) 236-8680.