For Immediate Release: Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Contact: Greg Buelow
E-mail: g.buelow@cedar-rapids.org


Seven People Displaced from Cooking Fire at Apartment Complex

An early morning cooking fire has displaced the occupants of four apartments of an 18-unit complex at 640 16th Avenue SW. Cedar Rapids firefighters were called to the scene of a three-story, brick apartment building at 4:27 a.m. and found smoke coming from the backside of an upper level of the dwelling. Firefighters also found an occupant who was still trapped inside of an upper level apartment and was standing at a window needing assistance. Firefighters quickly assembled a ladder and extended it to the third floor to remove Brittany Harmon-Wright, age 23, from the burning building.

Firefighters made entry to the third floor and found a fire in the kitchen area of apartment #12. Fire crews extinguished the blaze and checked for possible fire extension into the attic. There was heavy fire, heat and smoke damage to the kitchen and heat and smoke damage to the rest of apartment #12. Firefighters were able to contain fire damage to the one apartment, however three nearby apartments in the vicinity sustained significant smoke damage.

An investigation by the fire department determined that the fire originated on the stovetop in apartment #12, which was occupied by Brittany Harmon-Wright and Sean Patterson, age 35. The occupants were heating grease in a pan to prepare food and apparently fell asleep. The occupants woke up and discovered the fire. Harmon-Wright went to a neighboring apartment to call 911 and became disorientated with the smoke, necessitating the ladder rescue from the adjacent apartment.

Three other apartments were affected by the fire, displacing a total of seven occupants. The occupants of the other apartments included Takesha Rogers, age 28; Tim Jacobson, age 46; Shirley Jacobson, age 48; Steve Huggins, age 51; and Cate Huggins, age 56.

All of the displaced occupants are being assisted by the American Red Cross. There were no injuries reported.

The smoke alarms were not functioning in the apartment that had the fire. It is undetermined whether the smoke alarms in the common hallway were functioning.

The Fire Department reminds citizens that cooking food should not be left unattended. The preferred method of extinguishing a grease fire is to place a lid over the pan and shut off the heat, which smothers the fire. Occupants should leave a burning building and call 911 from outside. Further, smoke alarms should be tested once a month and the batteries replaced at least once a year.

No further information is available at this time.



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