Apartment fire burns city man

November 11, 2002|by SCOTT BUTKI

HAGERSTOWN - A Hagerstown man was in critical condition Friday night after being injured in a fire in the St. Charles Apartments, a Washington County Hospital official said.

Firefighters were dispatched to the building at 64 W. Antietam St. at 10:25 p.m., emergency officials said.

The building is connected to the Dagmar Hotel.

The Hagerstown Fire Marshall's office was investigating the cause of the fire Friday night, Hagerstown Fire Department Battalion Chief Ron Horn said.

The fire was contained to one room on the fourth floor, Horn said

Horn said the man suffered burns on much of his body.

Firefighters pulled a man out of the building and into an ambulance, where he was taken to the hospital.

The man was being flown to the burn unit at Washington Hospital Center, a hospital official said.

Rhonda Mayo, who has lived in the building for 1 1/2 years, said the first indication there was a fire on her floor was when she heard a boy screaming.

The boy often went into the apartment of the man believed injured in the fire, she said. The boy was not injured.

She described the man as a "good guy, an older man."

He has lived in the apartment for at least two years, she said.

David Walden, who lives in the Dagmar, said he heard the fire alarm go off and went outside to investigate. When he saw smoke, he called 911, he said.

Fire alarms in the apartment building and the Dagmar Hotel drew its residents, as well as passersby, to stand outside and watch firefighters put out the fire.

One resident said he heard the alarm and grabbed his pet cat and came outside to watch and wait.

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