Updated 1:15 p.m. 5/30/2017
The names of three of the people who died in the Eddy Apartment fire are being released today.
They are, 57-year-old Rosetta Toole; 71-year-old Henry Ellis; and 32-year-old Christopher Lander.
Ten people were rescued from the burning building on Polk Avenue by Des Moines firefighters last Thurdsay afternoon. Toole and Ellis died at local hospitals. Lander died at University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City.
A fourth victims' body was found in the building, and is still unidentified.
Updated 6:30 p.m. 5/26/2017
A fourth death is now confirmed from Thursday's fire at the Eddy Apartments on Polk Avenue.
Ten people were rescued from the burning, smoky four-story building Thursday by Des Moines Firefighters.
Fire Marshall Jonathan Lund says the first firefighters who arrived saved several lives.
Names are not being released yet, but police say one victim was a 57 year old woman, another a 71-year old man, and another victim they are not able to determine and will require a DNA test to identify. Information on the fourth victim is not available.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Updated 4:32 p.m.
Three people are dead after a fire at a Des Moines apartment Thursday at 1120 Polk Avenue, just south of University Avenue in Des Moines.
Fire Inspector Brian O'Keefe tells WHO Radio News that five people were taken to the hospital, and two of them died. One more deceased person was found later by firefighters inside the building.
The Fire Marshall is at the scene working to determine the cause of the fire.
Original report 3:24 p.m:
Five people are hospitalized, three with critical injures, after an apartment building fire this afternoon at 1120 Polk Avenue, just south of University in Des Moines. That building is known as Eddy Apartments.
Firefighters at the scene say ten people were rescued from the four floor apartment building as flames shot out a top floor window.
This fire dispatch audio includes one firefighter inside the building, still wearing an oxygen mask as they searched for people through the heavy smoke.
You can hear one firefighter inside the smoky building who is talking and breathing loudly through his oxygen mask.
At the fire scene, WHO Radio Reporter Richard Lee spoke with several residents. Alex Robertson lives in the Eddy Apartments and tells Lee that he and up to 50 others will have to find someplace else to spend the night.
Fire officials confirm that no one will be allowed back in tonight.