Captain: Grease caused apartment fire

By ELISE FRANCO

Damage to the Canfield complex is estimated to exceed $1 million.

CANFIELD — An investigation by the Cardinal Joint Fire District has determined the fire that broke out at a 56-unit apartment complex was caused by a grease fire on a stove.

District Capt. Bill Jones said the department spent Tuesday morning investigating the cause of a fire at The Villager apartment complex on Fairground Boulevard.

“We talked to the tenant in the apartment where the fire originated, and he relayed to us that he was cooking with Crisco grease,” he said. “He left the room to answer the phone, and the grease caught fire.”

Jones said the fire spread early Monday afternoon after the tenant attempted to remove the grease from the stove.

“He immediately exited his apartment and began banging on other residents’ doors, telling them to get out,” he said.

Jones said Austintown, Ellsworth, Beaver and Green township fire departments assisted Cardinal in evacuating 42 tenants and extinguishing the blaze.

“Our first two arriving trucks did a fantastic job of getting three women out of a second-story window using a ground ladder, and an elderly man with cancer out of a third-story window,” he said.

Firefighters didn’t start working on extinguishing the fire until they were sure every person was out safely, Jones said.

“It took about an hour total,” he said. “We searched the building, all three floors three times, to make sure everyone was out.”

Jones said the fire was contained in the tenant’s apartment, which was gutted. A neighboring apartment was partially destroyed, and surrounding units had extensive smoke damage.

“The fire spread rapidly, but when we arrived it was a heavy concentration of smoke,” he said, “We estimate damages in the range of $1 million to $1.2 million.”

No one was seriously injured in the fire, but two people were taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center’s Boardman Campus. They were treated for smoke inhalation Monday and released later that day.

Jones said the Mahoning County Chapter of the American Red Cross was on hand Monday, helping displaced residents find somewhere to stay.

“All displaced persons were taken care of and put into motels by the Red Cross,” he said.

Joe Clark, building manager, could not be reached to comment.