MYRTLE POINT — The flames were licking at the stairs to her second-floor apartment when Tammy Young heard a police officer banging on the door. She shook awake her boyfriend, Bruce Card, who went to the door and saw the fire.

It was just after midnight Thursday. Young got out through a window at the other end of the building. Card grabbed a bathrobe and decided to try the stairs.

“I got out of there as quick as I could,” he said. “It just happened so fast.”

Card stepped on some hot tar during his escape and required a trip to the hospital to treat the burn. He also singed some of his hair, though otherwise he was OK.

“Police and fire did an outstanding job,” he said. “They did everything they could for us.”

Young and two other residents, Richard Meyers and Della Richardson, also went to the hospital, though none had life-threatening injuries, said Lt. Willy Burris of the Myrtle Point Fire Department.

One of the building’s apartments was severely damaged on the lower level, though Card understands some of the belongings are salvageable.

The property owner, Chuck Keller of California, has a Coos County building inspector, claims adjuster and general contractor examining the building. He wants to rebuild, though he says the repairs will probably exceed $100,000 because much of the wood is pretty badly charred. He hates to think his tenants won’t have a place to stay.

“I just wish I could do more for them right now,” Keller said.

One of the tenants, Donald Gallino, is staying at the Myrtle Trees Motel thanks to assistance from the American Red Cross. He spent the night of the fire with his son, Roger Gallino. Roger Gallino said his dad was driving around town Friday morning looking for another apartment.

Card is staying with family in Myrtle Point and walking on crutches until his foot heals. He’s not really sure what he’ll do for housing next.

“That’s all up in the air,” he said.