Aug. 21--French fries cooking in an Allentown apartment caught fire Tuesday night, engulfing a kitchen in flames and causing enough damage to three apartments to displace 15 people.
No one was reported injured.
Giovanna Torres of 435 Green St. said her mother was making the fries in the second-floor apartment of the three-story brick apartment house about 11:20 p.m., when the fire broke out.
Her mother, Luz Colon, quickly alerted everyone to the danger, she said.
"My mom was going around yelling, 'Get out of the house! Get out of the house!'" said Torres, standing on a Penn Street sidewalk while firefighters finished putting out the blaze.
Most of the fire damage was confined to the kitchen of the apartment that she and her mother share with seven other people, she said.
But fire officials said the smoke and water damage, and the need to turn off the power, would force all 15 people who live in the building's three apartments to move out until repairs are made.
The American Red Cross of the Greater Lehigh Valley assisted a family of six adults and three children and a family of two adults and two children. The families received emergency lodging and food.
Fire officials said several pets survived the blaze. The residents rescued five kittens, four dogs and a bird.
-- Frank Warner
Copyright 2013 - The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.)
