Fire department Battalion Chief Tim Pierce said 911 calls reporting flames at the Chestnut Hills Apartments around 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

"There was just flames everywhere. I mean, just coming out of the sides and the top and the roof," said resident Sundee Wolfe.

"I'm like 'oh my goodness, somebody might be inside. What do I do? I have no fire experience. I don't dare go inside," said Jessica Klemetson, a 911 caller who lives down the street.

When firefighters arrived at the building at 209 21st Avenue Southwest, flames were shooting from the roof of a corner unit on the third floor.

Crews broke down the door and found a baby boy screaming from his crib as smoke and flames spread around him.

"The child was screaming and yelling at the time," said Pierce.

The boy was rushed to Mary Bridge Children's hospital and is said to be doing fine.

There were no adults inside the apartment when firefighters found the 22-month-old boy. Investigators questioned the 23-year-old mother of the boy and booked her on a charge of second-degree child abandonment.

It was not immediately clear where the mother was when the fire broke out or how long the child had been left alone.

The fire was a huge scare for another resident who was not at home when the blaze started.

Resident Jill Comly and her daughter returned from their walk to discover their apartment engulfed in flames with their cat, Buddy, still inside. Comly said her heart sank.

"He's a part of the family," Comly said.

One by one, firefighters walked out of each apartment empty-handed. And just when Comly started to lose hope, Buddy came out, unharmed in the arms of a firefighter.

"Oh, thank you so much. Oh, thank you," said Comly.

The 2-alarm fire was brought under control in about 30 minutes, but several units suffered smoke damage and the unit where the fire started was destroyed. The residents of six of the units were provided with rooms at the Puyallup Hotel by the Red Cross.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.