Apartment fire victim still in critical condition

November 11, 2002|BY SCOTT BUTKI

HAGERSTOWN - A Hagerstown man remained in critical condition Saturday after being burned in a Friday night fire in St. Charles Apartments.

Authorities identified the man as George Adams.

The cause of the fire in Adam's fourth-floor apartment room is under investigation, Hagerstown Assistant Fire Marshall Wayne D. Smith said. The fire appears to have originated near a couch in Adam's apartment, Smith said.

Smith has not yet interviewed Adams, whose age was unavailable.

Firefighters pulled Adams out of the building and placed him in an ambulance to Washington County Hospital. Later Friday night he was flown to the burn unit at Washington Hospital Center where he remained Saturday.

The fire destroyed a couch and a chair, said Smith, who estimated the damage caused by the fire to be $15,000 to $20,000.

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.

With the use of a ladder truck, the fire was contained to the single apartment, Smith said.

Rhonda Mayo, who has lived in the building for 11/2 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 injured in the fire, she said.

The boy was not injured.

Smith said he is trying to find and interview the boy - who is about 8 years old - to see what he knows but that might not happen until Monday or Tuesday.

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