MONROE - Just before 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, local firefighters responded to the scene of a fire at an apartment building in which smoke had engulfed the entire second floor.
Wayne Schulz has lived in the building on the corner of 22nd Avenue and 1st Street for the past 10 years. Schulz said cooking fires are not unusual at the building, but the situation was scary for residents. And this time, it was an incident in the apartment directly next to him.
"She was cooking something, and it just smoked her apartment all the way up, in the hallway and then the alarm went off," Schulz said.
Monroe Fire Department personnel responded to the scene to find smoke billowing out of the second-floor windows. Schulz said once the plume made its way into the hallway an alarm went off, and residents started to leave the building. Schulz and others were told by a firefighter "to get out."
As far as Schulz knew, there were no injuries.
"The firemen had to beat on the door to get her to open it," Schulz said.
Fire Chief Dan Smits confirmed no one had been hurt in the fire and said an oven caught fire in a second-floor apartment and that the fire was confined to the appliance.
"The victim said she fell asleep cooking something," Smits said.
The owner of the apartment was evacuated by firefighters. Smits said the incident is under investigation by the Monroe Police Department.
Wayne Schulz has lived in the building on the corner of 22nd Avenue and 1st Street for the past 10 years. Schulz said cooking fires are not unusual at the building, but the situation was scary for residents. And this time, it was an incident in the apartment directly next to him.
"She was cooking something, and it just smoked her apartment all the way up, in the hallway and then the alarm went off," Schulz said.
Monroe Fire Department personnel responded to the scene to find smoke billowing out of the second-floor windows. Schulz said once the plume made its way into the hallway an alarm went off, and residents started to leave the building. Schulz and others were told by a firefighter "to get out."
As far as Schulz knew, there were no injuries.
"The firemen had to beat on the door to get her to open it," Schulz said.
Fire Chief Dan Smits confirmed no one had been hurt in the fire and said an oven caught fire in a second-floor apartment and that the fire was confined to the appliance.
"The victim said she fell asleep cooking something," Smits said.
The owner of the apartment was evacuated by firefighters. Smits said the incident is under investigation by the Monroe Police Department.