If you can’t take the heat get out of the kitchen.
And it was in the kitchen where heat led firefighters to a fire Tuesday night just before 2 a.m. in an apartment building at 610 Spokane St.
Two firefighters responded from company four in Trail, along with fire chief Terry Martin.
“It turned out to be a fire on top of the stove from an element that had been left unattended,” said Martin.
However, the fire was already out when firefighters arrived. The occupants of the apartment were able to get a fire extinguisher and knock the flames down when they discovered the blaze.
No one called 911 but the building was monitored by an agency that, once the alarm system went off, notified regional district fire dispatch. That procedure is required when an independent agency is monitoring a building, said Martin.
As a result, the occupants were somewhat surprised when they found firefighters at their door, and in the resultant fluster did not put the kettle on to welcome them in.
“For people who live in apartment buildings, don’t be afraid to call 911 in the event of a fire alarm,” Martin said. “It doesn’t cost anything for us to come, and it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
The apartment was smoke filled and firefighters ventilated the rooms by opening a nearby exit door and let the air move the smoke out of the apartment.