TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) – The fire chief in Ohio’s fourth largest city says two firefighters killed in an apartment blaze faced rapidly deteriorating conditions once inside.
Toledo Fire Chief Luis Santiago says they don’t have a cause yet for the fire on Sunday that left a veteran firefighter and a rookie dead.
Santiago said Monday that radio calls from inside the building indicated that the fire was getting out of control quickly.
Killed were Stephen Machcinski, 42, a firefighter for 16 years, and James Dickman, 31, who had been on the job only six months and was with the Perkins Township fire department near Sandusky.
They died while battling a fire in a six-unit apartment building near downtown.
Santiago says investigators are taking their time trying to figure out what happened.