Multiple injuries in Washington apartment fire
A fifth floor fire at the Washington Arbors at 154 North College St. in Washington caused multiple injuries Friday. The cause of the fire was unknown at the time of publishing.
Gloria Ozarowski, who lives on the ninth floor of Washington Arbors, clutches her dog after she was evacuated from the building Friday night.
A male victim died about 9:40 p.m. after being transported to Washington Hospital after a structure fire broke out at Washington Arbors apartment complex Friday night.
The victim’s name is being withheld pending notification of family, according to a release from Washington County Coroner Tim Warco.
Several other people were injured.
The fire was reported about 8:50 p.m. at 154 North College St., when 9-1-1 began to receive phone calls from residents who reported heavy smoke in the building.
“The fire alarm went off, but you get a lot of false alarms. I did see smoke, and a man banged on my door and told me to leave,” said resident Ellen Sheets, who lives in an eighth-floor unit.
City police officer Michael Cain, who was among the first at the scene, said smoke was so thick on the fifth floor that emergency workers couldn’t see more than a foot.
Police and firefighters carried some of the residents on the sixth through ninth floors down the steps on their backs.
Many of the residents are elderly and have health issues.
Police and firefighters went through the building three times, knocking down doors in some cases to alert residents they needed to evacuate.
Warming stations were set up for displaced residents, while other residents sat in cars with the heat turned on.
One eight-floor resident, Gabrielle, said she saw smoke seeping through her bathroom vent and grabbed her 13-year-old dog, some medication, a couple of bags and walked down the emergency stairs.
“There were people still in their apartments, who didn’t want to leave,” she said.
City fire chief Linn Brookman said the cause of the fire is under investigation.