Fire Department

Smoke wafting into an east-side apartment overnight was eventually traced to burned food in the apartment below.

Engine Company 3 and other central fire crews responded to the 400 block of S. Livingston Street. The 911 caller had evacuated the building along with her cats and met firefighters outside. She explained smoke was filling her apartment.

Firefighters entered her unit, and although the smoke smelled of burned food, the crew the kitchen appliances were not turned on. Firefighters moved along to the unit below. Peering into the window, Engine Company 3 could see haze inside the unit. Nobody answered when the firefighters pounded on the door multiple times. Firefighters forced entry out of concern for active fire inside.

Inside, one occupant was found standing near the kitchen. He was taken outside to be seen by paramedics and was eventually transported to the hospital but did not suffer fire-related injuries.

Engine Company 3 went on to find a cast iron pan inside the oven set to broil. Food inside the pan was “burned to charcoal”and taken outside by firefighters. Ladder Company 1 ventilated the smoke out of the residence. The other occupant and her cats were invited to return inside.