INDIANA - A 74-year-old man died of smoke inhalation when a pan of grease he had left heating unattended on the stove ignited. The fire spread through the first-floor apartment's kitchen, across the ceiling, and into the dining room before firefighters brought it under control.
The unsprinldered, wood-frame apartment building, which covered 5,000 square feet (465 square meters), had a roof covered with asphalt shingles. Firefighters found a smoke alarm on a night stand in the victim's bedroom, but it was below the smoke line. The fire was detected by a secondfloor occupant who called 911.
After the blaze was extinguished, investigators found three cast-iron skillets on the apartment's electric stove; one with grease in it had been placed on a burner whose control knob was in the On' position. After the grease in it ignited, flames spread into a vent hood and to other areas of the kitchen. The fire then spread across the ceiling to other rooms in the apartment.
The building, which was valued at $500,000, and its contents, valued at $200,000, sustained property damage estimated at $50,000 and $10,000, respectively.
Author: Tremblay, Ken
No comments:
Post a Comment