One person injured, cat and guinea pig found deceased, at Crystal River apartment fire
Crystal River, Florida - About 8:15 pm on Friday, July 9, Citrus County Fire Rescue was dispatched to a fire at an apartment building on NE 10th St. in Crystal River, where one apartment had smoke showing at the windows and heavy smoke damage throughout one unit.
Firefighters from Crystal River, Connell Heights and Homosassa fire stations responded to the fire. The Citrus County Sheriff’s Office, which arrived first on scene, advised firefighters that the fire was extinguished, and there were no occupants inside the apartment. A neighbor advised firefighters that he entered the apartment and turned off the main breaker at the breaker panel and removed two deceased animals, a cat and a guinea pig, from the apartment.
Firefighters removed items from the kitchen counter area and extinguished some smoldering materials with a water can. A press release stated that there was no damage, smoke or fire extension discovered in the adjoining unit, and the fire damage was contained to the kitchen, which was the area of origin, although smoke and heat damage was noted throughout all rooms of the apartment.
One occupant arrived on scene and informed firefighters that two other occupants were home, earlier in the day, and the two additional occupants later arrived on scene and advised firefighters that they may have started a pot of oil cooking, to make french fries, before they left the residence around 4:30 pm that afternoon. A pot was discovered on the stove with residue in it, along with a bag of frozen french fries on the counter next to the stove.
One occupant requested that emergency medical services be contacted for evaluation, and the occupant was transported to a local hospital with injuries that were not specified, but said to be non-life threatening.
The apartment had three smoke detectors that were unhooked from their mounts and nonfunctional at the time of the fire, according to the press release.
The property management company and the Florida State Fire Marshal’s office were contacted and advised of findings and the injury related to the fire. The power company was contacted to pull the meter due to damage to two receptacles in kitchen area, and the Red Cross was contacted to assist the displaced residents.
Contat CCFR by phone at 352-527-5406. For more information about CCFR, visit its website at www.citruscountyfire.com, Facebook at Citrus County Fire Rescue or Twitter at CitrusCoFire.