February 25, 2002

PRESS RELEASE
To: Newsroom
For Immediate Release
Contact: Brian A. Crawford, Public Information Officer
Phone: 673-6652, cell: 455-2609, page: 675-2137

Officials Determine Cause of Weekend Apartment Fire

Electricity temporarily hampers firefighter efforts

Shreveport Fire Department investigators have determined that a weekend fire that heavily damaged two apartments at the Prince Village apartment complex, 2488 David Raines, was started by food being left on the stove. Firefighters were called to the apartments just after 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning by residences of building 100 after a fire that started in a bottom floor apartment broke through to an upstairs apartment.

As fire crews pulled up to the building, smoke and flames were coming from the flat roof of the structure. As soon as rescue teams ensured that all of the occupants were out of the affected apartments, firefighters went to work on extinguishing the blaze. Crews laddered the building in an attempt to reach the fire in the attic and on the roof when firefighters on the second floor were hampered from reaching the fire because the electricity to the building was still on. "The water was actually arching lines in the attic’s crawl space," said District Chief David Barron. A short while later SWEPCO shut off power to the building. Firefighters then made quick work of bringing the fire under control by 2:50 a.m.

Fire Investigator Russell Moon said that the fire was started by food being left on the stove of downstairs apartment 108. Occupant Ethyl Young, 54, said that she was awoke by the smoke and fire alarm in her apartment. When she reached the kitchen, Young found her stove on fire and attempted to extinguish the blaze with a fire extinguisher, but was unsuccessful. Young then ran upstairs to alert neighbors and seek additional help. By the time Young and a neighbor were able to get back into the kitchen, the fire had traveled through the cabinets and up into the upstairs apartment. Young was treated by department paramedics at the scene for smoke inhalation but was not transported. No other injuries were reported. ###