One critically injured in Gulfport apartment fire

One resident at a Gulfport apartment complex was critically injured in a morning fire.

Gulfport Fire Chief Billy Kelley said a call came in about 10:24 a.m. that a unit at Sugar Mill Apartments on Mill Road was on fire. The unit was in Building 2 on the bottom floor.

When firefighters arrived, neighbors were trying to get help an elderly resident with limited mobility get out of the burning unit. Firefighters were able to get the man out and render aid until he was airlifted to a hospital. One of the neighbors trying to help also suffered some smoke inhalation.

Once on scene, it took firefighters just 17 minutes to get the fire under control. An adjacent unit and the unit above both had heavy smoke damage, Kelley said.

Gulfport had seven units and 21 firefighters on scene. The fire is under investigation.

An apartment unit was destroyed and a resident sent to the hospital after a fire broke out at Sugar Mill Apartments in Gulfport on Tuesday morning.