Firefighters rescue man, 68, from blaze
Residents of 12 units of Centerville apartment complex displaced.
Centerville police CENTERVILLE — officers crawled on their stomachs through a second-story apartment fire in an attempt to save a resident early Tuesday morning, but were forced by the heavy smoke to retreat and leave the man they thought was dead, police and fire authorities said.
Within three minutes, firefighters with the Washington Twp. Fire Department found and removed Timothy Stark, 68, from inside the complex on the 200 block of N. Main Street in Centerville, said Battalion Chief Ron Kern.
Emergency personnel revived Stark, who left the scene for Kettering Medical Center breathing and with a pulse. A hospital spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for his condition.
Firefighters additionally pulled around six other people out of the building across from Bill’s Donuts, Kern said.
No one was injured in the fire, which displaced residents in 12 rooms at the complex and is under investigation by the state fire marshal. The value of damage has not been determined.
Police arrived first on scene around 1:50 a.m. Officers Anthony Green, Marcus Loel and Amanda Reyes entered the building after breaking down a door.
“Pull me!” an officer was heard saying to a fellow police officer in an attempt to pull Stark from the building.
Kern applauded the Centerville officers who entered the building.
“They definitely put their lives at risk to help pull that victim out,” Kern said. “The CPD officers started to get overcome by smoke. We highly suggest to them that when they get in those situations ... that they have to exit the building.”