Sunday morning fire displaces Lawrence family

Smoke escapes from a duplex Sunday morning at 1042 New Jersey St. as Lawrence firefighters try to contain the fire.

A fire Sunday morning has displaced a family from a Lawrence duplex.

Justin Temple, operations divisions chief with Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical, said that shortly after 10 a.m. Sunday firefighters responded to a fire at 1042 New Jersey St. The fire, which was contained to the kitchen in the two-story duplex, was under control at 10:17 a.m., he said.

A family of an adult and two children had vacated the apartment when firefighters arrived, Temple said. The occupants were uninjured but were unable to return to the residence because of smoke damage and lack of utilities from the fire response, he said. They received lodging assistance from the American Red Cross and the Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority. The other unit in the duplex was unoccupied.

No damage estimate was immediately available and the cause of the fire remains under investigation, Temple said.