A fire that engulfed an apartment unit in Gillette, Wyoming, Sunday morning left one man burned and injured from smoke-inhalation, but he was able to escape by rushing “very close” to the flames before firefighters arrived, the local fire marshal said.
“When he awoke it was to the heat of the fire,” Campbell County Fire Marshal Stuart Burnham told Cowboy State Daily on Monday. “That’s what prompted him to escape. Fortunately, he was able to exit under his own power, before the fire blocked his exit.”
The man’s arms and face were burned, according to scanner traffic during the fire.
He was the only person home at the time, Burnham said, adding that, “Everyone else that lived there was not present.”
As of 11 a.m. Sunday, the injured man was still at the Campbell County Memorial Hospital, Burnham said.
Got It Trapped
The apartment complex is a multi-story, eight-unit building at 1301 Eagles Nest Circle.
Firefighters, emergency medical and other first responders arrived at about 9:15 a.m. to find “heavy fire” showing through the walls and windows, the responders reported to each other, according to the scanner feed.
Burnham elaborated, saying the doors had already failed and the fire had “plenty of oxygen just to keep going.”
“The really impressive thing,” Burnham continued, “is the fire crews were able to keep it to a single apartment unit.”
Fires often will burst into the attic of an apartment unit and try to spill into other units through it. But this attic space had a dividing barrier, which helped the blaze hold to one unit as well, Burnham said. He also credited the crews' fast response.
Off-duty and part-time personnel came to help the on-call firefighters at the time, says a Monday-morning statement by the Campbell County Fire Department. They blasted the blaze with water, leading to water damage in the downstairs unit but confining the fire.
A local Red Cross chapter came to help the impacted residents, the statement says.
No Cause Yet, But Watch Out For Heaters
Burnham was still going over potential causes Monday and narrowing it down, he said.
The department put a pointed cautionary in its statement anyway about space heaters.
“Please follow manufacturer recommendations for a safe distance between portable heaters and combustible materials such as drapes and clothing,” the statement says. “Portable heaters can catch items around them on fire — as high heat generated by the heater can ignite flammable materials like clothing, curtains or furniture if they are not kept at a safe distance.”
Burnham also said that he never could confirm whether the unit had smoke alarms.
“Look around — whether it’s an apartment or a house — and ensure there are smoke alarms there,” he said.
Pets
The investigation didn’t reveal any pet fatalities, said Burnham.
Responders at the time were concerned about a dog in the area, but a neighbor agreed to care for the dog until its owner returned, according to scanner traffic at the time.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
