A fire damaged part of a Petersburg apartment complex about two miles south of town on Friday, Oct. 16.
No occupants were in the building when firefighters arrived, but a pet dog died in the incident, according to Volunteer Fire Department spokesperson Dave Berg.
He said the apartment unit is now “uninhabitable because of the smoke and fire damage.”
Petersburg police, fire and EMS were called to the scene at a four-unit apartment building on Cornelius Road around 11:38 a.m. About 15 firefighters responded with two engines, along with an ambulance and EMS personnel.
“The police were on scene when we got there, and they were knocking on doors and making sure the building was evacuated,” Berg told KFSK Friday afternoon.
Berg said firefighters opened the door to the second story unit and encountered heavy, dark smoke.
“Firefighters entered the building and quickly extinguished the flames, which was just inside the door in the kitchen area,” Berg said. “Then they proceeded to search the structure for any signs of life — we had heard that there was a dog on the premises.”
Firefighters found the dog inside the unit, brought the pet outside and attempted to resuscitate it with CPR, but were unsuccessful.
Berg said the flames had “died down significantly” by the time firefighters went inside, “because of a lack of oxygen.” That unit sustained heavy damage.
The fire seems to have started in the kitchen, but he said the exact cause is under investigation.
Responders left the scene by about 12:55 p.m.
The building’s owner, Charles Davis, said it looks like the damaged unit will need a “complete rebuild,” and the tenants will have to find another place to stay.
Davis said the fire was first reported by a neighbor who heard the smoke detector going off through an open window.
“He heard a faint sound of a smoke alarm in the distance, and looked over and saw a little smoke rolling out the windows, and then out the window, and went over and banged on the door,” Davis said. “Nobody answered, and the door was hot, so he called 911.”
He said the fire department did a “great job” responding, and helped minimize water damage as they put out the fire. Davis said the other units remain in livable condition, and said “none of the other tenants in the building will be affected by that.”
The fire department volunteers had been training for this scenario the day before. Firefighters practiced entering and searching a smoke-filled building using training equipment at Scow Bay. Their training materials are slated for relocation due to upcoming site work for a major harbor development project at Scow Bay.
This is a developing story.
