COLUMBUS – Firefighters trying to battle a two-alarm blaze in a high-rise apartment building on the East Side early Tuesday morning found their efforts hampered by rush-hour traffic.
Two people were taken to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation after fire broke out at the Royal York Apartments, 1445 E. Broad Street, just before 06:40 a.m., said Division of Fire spokesman Battalion Chief Steve Martin.
Firefighting efforts were “somewhat hampered” by motorists who refused to stop and ran over fire hoses pumping water from hydrants on the north side of Broad Street to the fire scene on the south side, Martin said.
“We would like to remind everyone that it is illegal to drive your vehicle through an emergency scene or over a firehose,” he said.
When they arrived at the scene, Martin says firefighters observed fire extending from a third floor window on the north side of the structure.
The fire was upgraded to a second alarm almost immediately because of the potential for loss of life in the apartment building.
Firefighters contained the fire primarily to one bedroom of a single apartment where a man who was sleeping in the family room awoke to find himself surrounded by heavy smoke and left the apartment, Martin said
Fire investigators determined that the fire was an accident and started where an extension cord was compressed to carpeting under totes and clothing next to the bed. Martin says the extension cord had a lamp and a space heater plugged into it and turned on.
Acting Fire Chief James Cannell credits the presence of working smoke alarms with preventing any fatalities or serious injuries.
Martin says fire officials want to remind residents that space heaters are designed to be plugged in directly to an outlet, not an extension cord and that thin, inexpensive cords cannot handle the electrical demand of larger appliances.