Area 40 Apartment Fire 2/26/2008   A fire on Charleston's East End Tuesday afternoon left nine people homeless and sent billows of smoke toward the state Capitol. The fire started in the attic apartment at 226 Bradford St., said Corey Hardman, one of the building's residents. It was reported about 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, according to Kanawha County 911 dispatchers. "The girl that lived upstairs ran down and said her apartment was on fire," Hardman said. "I ran up with a fire extinguisher and tried to put it out but it had already taken the living room." Charleston firefighters enter the house to fight the fire at 226 Bradford St., which apparently started in the attic. .. Hardman said five people were in the complex at the time and all made it out. Nine residents lived in the building's four apartments, he said. "We had time to get some of our stuff out," he said. The fire started when a candle tipped over near a couch, Hardman said. A woman who refused to give her name but identified herself as one of the residents of the attic apartment said she lost everything in the fire. "I don't have any family around here," she said. "I don't know what I'm going to do." A man sat on the wet street curb across from the apartment, holding his baby wrapped in thick blankets as rain drizzled down. "We got out, but this is all we have," he said. "I didn't get anything out." Firefighters battled the fire for about three hours, said Assistant Fire Chief Dan Shaffer. The house suffered moderate to heavy damage, with fire and smoke damage on the upper floors and water damage below, he said. City building inspectors planned to meet with the owner today  to better assess the damage, Shaffer said. Firefighters have not officially determined what caused the fire, Shaffer said.