CLEVELAND — Five residents were displaced following a Thursday morning fire in Cleveland.

The fire occurred shortly after 11 a.m. in the 4000 block of Third Creek Church Road near Glenn Faust Road in Cleveland. 

Cleveland Community Volunteer Fire Department Chief Kenny Payne said that only one occupant was home at the time the fire broke out. 

Payne said that the occupant reportedly opened a bedroom door to see smoke coming from the living room area. Then in an effort to escape the blaze, broke out through a bedroom window. In that process, the occupant cut his hand. 

“He had to break glass and go out the back window to get out,” Payne said. 

Payne indicated that most of the damage was incurred in the living room but added that smoke damage was evident throughout the home. 

Rowan County Fire Division Chief Deborah Horne said the cause of the fire was still under investigation but that it appeared to have started in the living room by the couch. 

Responding departments included Salisbury, Woodleaf, Rowan-Iredell, Scotch-Irish, Locke and Franklin fire departments. Rowan County 91 Rescue and 81 EMS also were on scene.