Ind. Crews Rescue Trapped Residents From Balconies

AVON, Ind. -- A collaborative effort from the Wayne Township Fire Department, assisted by the Avon and Speedway fire departments, helped contain a fierce apartment blaze that displaced several residents of the Cambridge Station Apartments in Avon.

Firefighters were called to 912 Broken Bow Way around 6:45 a.m. Wednesday on a report of heavy fire coming from a two-story building at the complex that contains eight units, six of which were occupied.

"They had a lot of fire coming out of that first story apartment," Mike Pruitt, public information officer for the Wayne Township Fire Department, said. "We had people trapped in the upper balconies that couldn't get out. They were able to get those people down safely and evacuate the building."

Pruitt sad they did know how many occupants were living in the building, but he did know that they've now been displaced due to either fire or smoke damage.

It took around 15 minutes to contain the fire.

"We had one firefighter suffer a minor injury and he was treated by EMS and released on his own at the scene," Pruitt said.

He said a grease fire in one of the resident's kitchens started the blaze.

"It started when one of the occupants of the main apartment was cooking, left the cooking unattended for a short period of time, and a grease fire started," Pruitt said. "When the fire got going, they evacuated until we got on the scene. It was an extremely hot fire."

He said it was so hot that carpet in the apartments was melting and sticking to the firefighters' gear.

"If it's fueled, the fire within a minute can consume an apartment without a problem, especially with so much synthetic material in buildings," Pruitt said. "Not everything's made of paper and wood anymore, and these synthetic materials can ignite and make it extremely hot."

Four people had to be removed from balconies. There were no reported injuries to occupants, although two cats died in the fire. A damage estimate is not yet available.

The Wayne Township Victims Assistance program is assisting those who were displaced by the fire.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service