One Person Injured at Apartment Fire

One person was transported to the hospital with serious injuries following an apartment fire at 3209 Ridgeway Avenue early Sunday morning.  A second person was rescued from a second floor balcony without injury.

City of Madison firefighters were called to the six unit apartment building at 12:20 a.m.  Engine 3 arrived on scene within five minutes and reported a smoke filled hallway on the building’s first floor.  Bystanders told firefighters that the fire was located in a lower level apartment at the rear of the building.

Before Engine 3’s crew could move to the rear of the building, they noticed a woman yelling for help on the balcony and raised a ladder to rescue her.  Ladder 8, positioned in the rear of the building, entered through the rear door of the lower level.

As firefighters entered the apartment they encountered heavy black smoke.  They quickly located the occupant of the apartment and took him outside.  Paramedics transported him to University Hospital.

Other crews on the scene checked for fire extension in the walls, checked the other occupants for injuries, and ventilated smoke from the building.

The fire caused approximately $20,000 damage to the building and contents.

A smoke alarm was located in the apartment, but it is unknown if it functioned.  The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Smoke alarms save lives.  Almost two-thirds of home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.  When there is a fire, smoke spreads fast and you need smoke alarms to give you time to get out.

Make sure your home is safe for you and your family by following these safety tips:

• Install smoke alarms on every level of the home, in each bedroom, and outside each bedroom.
• Test your smoke alarms every month.
• Make an escape plan and have a fire drill to practice your plan.
• When the alarm sounds, get out and stay out.
• After you have escaped, call 9-1-1 from a safe place.
• Never go back inside the building for any reason.