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Two people jumped from balconies to escape Warren fire
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Stewart Circle Northwest apartment where five people were injured, two seriously, in a 7 p.m. Tuesday fire. One man jumped from the third-floor balcony, and a woman jumped from the second-floor balcony to avoid the smoke in the hallway of the building. The man who jumped from the third floor is believed to have suffered a broken leg. Two people in first-floor apartment suffered second-degree burns.
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Two people, fearing they would not make it through the smoke in the hallway of their Stewart Circle Northwest apartment, jumped from their balconies onto the ground, with one of them apparently suffering a broken leg.
Two other people in the first-floor apartment where the fire started about 7 p.m. Tuesday suffered second-degree burns and are at the Akron Children’s Hospital burn unit. A nursing supervisor said she cannot disclose their condition.
They are Brian Whitlow, 44, and his mother, Nancy Whitlow, 64, who uses a wheelchair. Two sons of Brian Whitlow also were in the apartment, Damian, 16, and Nick, 14, but they were not injured, Warren Fire Chief Ken Nussle said.
It appears that five people from the apartment building were treated for injuries from the fire and smoke, Nussle said. Brian Whitlow’s sons went in an ambulance but were not treated.
About 10 to 12 people were in the apartment building at the time of the fire, Nussle said.
The fire may have started as a result of cooking in the Whitlows’ first-floor apartment. Investigators still need to interview Brian Whitlow’s sons to get a better idea, Nussle said. Their aunt took them from the hospital to stay with her in Garrettsville.
Firefighters evacuated the building, asking residents in a third-floor apartment to leave for their safety. The residents of that apartment returned later and spent the night there, Nussle said.
The American Red Cross provided accommodations for the others who were displaced. It appears five of the six apartments in the building were occupied, Nussle said.
The man who jumped from the third-floor balcony probably fell about 16 feet. The woman, Ashley Johnson, 27, who jumped from the second-floor balcony, fell about 6 feet. Nussle said he doesn’t know whether the woman suffered any injury, and the Warren Fire Department did not have the names of the two other people who were injured, including the man who jumped from the third floor.
Nussle said the Whitlows’ apartment building sustained fire damage. The remainder of the building sustained smoke damage. No damage estimate was available.