Apartment damaged in fire
9/5/2006 (Source: dailydemocrat.com)
Three cats were killed but no other injuries were reported when a fire broke out in a vacant apartment on Matmor Road early Sunday night.
Woodland, Willow Oak and Davis fire crews responded to the call for help at Crossroads Apartments on 555 Matmor Road Sunday evening after receiving an emergency call from a resident of the complex. The neighbor, Jeff Beals, said he was walking around the complex while waiting for his wife, when he saw smoke coming an apartment. "At first I thought someone was barbecuing. Then I realized it was coming from apartment 21, and no one lives there," he said. "I went and felt the window and it was hot." Beals and another resident checked out the apartment and then called in to report the blaze. Woodland crews were quickly on scene, but soon called for extra units when firefighters realized it was fully involved, said Battalion Chief Dwight Cline. Acting Captain John Nail was first to arrive at the scene. He said firefighters experienced heavy smoke, hot conditions and zero visibility in the apartment. Crews had to break open windows and a make a hole in the roof in order to ventilate the smoke. The firefighters' response prevented the blaze from spreading to other apartments through the attic. No one was injured, but the previous owner, Judy Richardson, was devastated after knowing her cats had died in the fire. The fire is suspected to have originated in the kitchen. "It appears there was food left on the stove," said Cline. Allan Burkett, manager of Crossroads Apartments, found the information confusing since the apartment was locked and the previous owner evicted. "It's been pretty hectic here," he said. "I'm a little confused since the apartment has been vacant for a week and a half now. Hopefully, we can get some answers after an investigation." After the fire was extinguished crews conducted a rapid search to check for victims and to investigate the possible cause, Nail said. The fire could have been avoided if the apartment had a sprinkler system. "If this was one of the newer apartment complexes, it would have had sprinklers installed and this would have been avoided," Nail said. - Reach Lizeth Cazares at 406-6232.
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