Crews Called To Mattress Fire At First Street Shelter

Engine Co. 3 responded to the temporary men’s shelter at 200 N. First Street for initial reports of the smell of gas there. While en route, the call was upgraded to a structure fire response as additional 911 calls received reported smoke in the building.

Firefighters entered the building to investigate and found gray smoke banked down to the floor of one interior room. A mattress in that room was on fire. Ladder Co. 1 performed search and rescue operations throughout the rest of the building as Engine Co. 3 put a stop to the mattress fire. One person was rescued from the fire room by Medic 3. The patient was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

There were no other injuries resulting from the incident, and fire did not spread beyond the room of origin. Preliminary evidence suggests the fire was intentionally set. The investigation is ongoing.