Sleeping boy awakened in smoky house

YOUNGSTOWN — Firefighters who heard smoke alarms going off removed a front window screen at an apartment on Dogwood Lane on the East Side and yelled for the teenage boy asleep on the couch to wake up and open the door. The 13-year-old boy complied and firefighters found a pot burning on the stove at 5:20 p.m. Thursday. The boy said his mother told him about something cooking on the stove before she went out but he forgot and fell asleep. No damage was reported. Earlier on Thursday, firefighters responded to a report of a gas leak at 3031 Glenwood Ave. on the South Side and discovered that someone had tried to remove the hot water tank, which ruptured the gas line around 1 p.m. The gas was shut off and the housing department was notified to board up the vacant structure, reports show.