Two firefighters were injured early Tuesday in a fire that swept through a building in the Greens of Cedar Chase apartment complex at 1700 N. Dupont Highway, in Dover.
Dover Fire Chief Carleton "Buck" Carey Jr. said one of the injured was a member of the city fire department; the other belongs to the Cheswold fire company.
Carey said one individual was injured when a ceiling collapsed and the other was cut by glass while trying to force open a door. They were taken to Bayhealth-Kent General Hospital and at last report had been stabilized, he said.
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Cedar Chase resident Coty Gallagher said he heard fire alarms at about 7:10 a.m.
"There were an immense number of alarms," he said. Fire crews from Dover, Smyrna and Cheswold were fighting the blaze, Gallagher said.
"They were all over this fire," he said.
Gallagher ran outside where he said about 100 Cedar Chase residents were gathered. He said, and Carey confirmed, the fire was on the third floor of one of the apartment buildings and was burning through the attic and roof.
"There was no doubt the fire started in that apartment," Gallagher said.
He watched the blaze for about 15 minutes until it appeared it would not spread beyond that single building. By the time he left the area for work at about 9:20, the fire was out although the building was still smoking, Gallagher said.
"Everyone was in shock," he said.
This was Gallagher's first experience with a fire of this magnitude, he said.
"You worry about living in an apartment where anyone of the people living near you can start a fire," he said. "But [the fire department] was on top of this fire. I was very proud to see they had a whole crew there almost instantly."
With the breezy weather conditions at the time, the fire could easily have spread further, Gallagher said.
"If they hadn't gotten there, 15 minutes later who knows, everything could have gone up in flames," he said.
Carey said firefighters used ground ladders to rescue three apartment residents who were trapped on a balcony.
"They couldn't get out," Carey said. "The access to the apartments is in the middle of the building and the fire was all up and down the stairwell."
Dover police officers on the scene assisted with the balcony rescues, he added.
Police department spokesman Master Cpl. Mark Hoffman said Dover officers had arrived at the complex ahead of the fire company and helped evacuate apartment residents and get vehicles moved out of the way to make room for the fire equipment.
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