GERONIMO Okla_ An innocent
mistake while moving into an apartment in Geronimo sparks a dangerous kitchen
fire, and leads to the evacuation of the building.
The fire
started around 12:30 pm Tuesday, on a ground floor unit in the corner of the
building.
Lanetta Martin said
she was helping her disabled friend move into the only handicapped-accessible
apartment in the building. She said she put some cardboard boxes on the stove.
She said she thought the stove was off. The boxes ignited and the flames
quickly spread out of control.
The flames and smoke
destroyed the kitchen and caused extensive damage to the living room.
Fortunately, no one was injured in the fire, and most of the renter's
belongings had not been moved in. They are still in her current apartment a few
doors down. Martin said she considers this fire a close call in more ways than
one.
She said she
had no idea that she had accidentally turned the stove on when she put the
boxes on top of it. So, when she and her friend smelled smoke, she wasn't
immediately worried.
"I said
lets unplug everything in this room because it might be overloaded," Martin
said. "She has lots of things that need to be plugged up. So, we did that then
the fire alarm went off."
She said she
followed the smell into the kitchen, noticed the flames, and grabbed a fire
extinguisher. She said the flames would not die down.
"I sprayed
it, and the fire went out," Martin said. "A few minutes later, the fire came
back on. By the third time I put it out, I realized the stove. It's over at the
end by the wall. That's when I told her to call the fire department."
Firefighters
arrived and managed to put the flames out in about five minutes, but the flames
had already burned through the kitchen walls and exposed some electrical
wiring. Fire crews had to shut down power to the complex. They had the building
evacuated for about an hour. They said fortunately, the fire had not spread to
other units, which is a common occurrence in apartment fires.
"Being on
a lower apartment, the fire can spread to the upstairs unit," Geronimo
Volunteer Firefighter Gabriel Maldonado said. "A lot of the modern apartment
complexes have fire walls built between apartment units to keep spread from
going to the apartment's next to it."
Martin said she
feels awful about causing today's fire, especially after all her friend went
through to move.
"I was
just thinking about all of her stuff," Martin said. "I just thought about all
of this work we have been doing. Now, it is going up in flames or smoke or
whatever."
She said she's
learned a valuable lesson.
"Don't put
anything on a stove."
Martin said she's glad she had not moved her friend's cleaning supplies
into the cabinets above the stove. She said the chemicals could have caused an
explosion. She said her friend will stay in her current apartment, which is not
handicapped accessible.
The American Red Cross is helping out the victim with whatever she needs
through this difficult time.
