Dad hurt saving kids from apartment fire
Father saved 2 kids; no injuries in second blaze in Champaign County.
Officials investigate two fires in Clark and Champaign counties, including one in which a man was injured rescuing children.
Fire officials are investigating two fires in Clark and Champaign counties, including one in which a man was injured while rescuing his children.
The Clark County fire occurred at an Enon apartment - displacing five people and sending three to the hospital. It remains under investigation by the state fire marshal’s office.
The Mad River Twp. Fire Department responded to the fire in the 7000 block of Emerald Ave., around 4:30 a.m. Monday.
When fire crews arrived, they saw heavy flames coming from the back of the apartment. The flames were contained quickly.
The two adults and three children of the residence and nearby neighbors were evacuated before fire crews arrived.
“Someone in the family was sleeping downstairs and was alerted early on to the fire and got everybody out,” Lt. Scott Sells with the Mad River Township Fire Department said.
The father of the family, who was not identified, rescued his two small children who were trapped by the fire.
Fire crews said the action of the father saved the lives of his children.
“It’s great,” Sells said. “It takes us a little while to get here and I guess that’s just what parents do.”
The father suffered burns and smoke inhalation and was transported to Miami Valley Hospital. His two children were transported to Dayton Children’s Hospital for precautionary reasons, Sells said.
The apartment sustained heavy smoke damage and minor fire damage. The three other nearby apartments were not damaged.
“There’s a lot of smoke, a lot of plastics involved, a lot of glues, maybe some furniture, that caused a lot of heavy smoke damage to the property,” Sells said.
The fire remains under investigation until the state fire
marshal’s office speaks with the residents.
“We are still waiting to speak to the occupants,” Brian Bohnert, the state fire marshal’s public information officer said. “But, (there is) nothing at this time to indicate it was potentially set.”
Sells said that the damages and injuries “could’ve been a lot worse.”
No injuries were reported after a fire broke out in a Champaign County mobile home late Wednesday morning.
A state trooper driving on U.S. 68 north of state Route 72, reported finding the fire in the Sunset Terrace mobile home park around 10:40 a.m., emergency scanner traffic indicated.
The Urbana Fire Department, Moorefield Twp. Fire Department, Mechanicsburg Fire Department, and
Champaign County Emergency Management Agency responded to the fire that sustained significant damage.
The homeowner was not home at the time the fire broke out, fire crews said.
According to Urbana Fire Chief Dean Ortlieb, the cause of fire is unknown and remains under investigation.
Contact this reporter at 937-409-9623 or email Natalie.Jones@cmg.com.