One resident is dead and another was airlifted when fire broke at the ABC Tamaqua Hi-Rise Friday morning.

Several other people, including a Tamaqua police officer, were treated for smoke inhalation.

The blaze started around 6:15 a.m. and was isolated to one room. However smoke and water damage displaced other residents on the upper floors. The top five floors were evacuated.

Flames shot out of the windows of the 16th floor apartment. Some residents saw flaming debris falling down in front of their windows as they waited out the blaze.

“I looked out the window, I could see fireballs falling,” said Donald Miller, 84. “I just waited for the emergency people to come.”

The building’s residents, many of whom are senior citizens, were not put out into the cold.

The majority were able to stay in their rooms. Others waited in a common area or in a church across the street as firefighters worked to clear remaining smoke from the building.

Some residents sat outside on the patio by choice. EMTs checked out people who were exposed to smoke or have medical conditions, and offered the people on the patio blankets.

Most of the building’s residents were sleeping when the fire alarm went off. Many followed prescribed instructions to shelter in place and wait to be reached by fire crews or building personnel.

Others decided to evacuate anyway. They either rode the locked elevator with firefighters, or walked down the stairs. Diane Hewitt evacuated with her dog, Holly.

“I smelled the smoke and I was getting out,” Hewitt said.

Fire alarms and small fires aren’t unheard of at the high-rise, but longtime residents said it was the worst blaze that they had ever seen.

“You get small ones, cooking fires, but not like this,” said Joseph Clausius.

Firefighters and police from Tamaqua, Summit Hill, Lansford, Rush Township, and West Penn all responded to the fire.