Kitchen Fire Forces Evacuation of Bridgeville Apartment Building

A kitchen fire inside one of the units at the Hickman House in Bridgeville forced residents to evacuate the apartment complex Wednesday night.

No one was seriously injured when the fire ignited in the kitchen of a second-story unit shortly before 6 p.m., but one resident had to be taken to a local hospital for smoke inhalation.

“The kitchen is burned up,” said. “It’s gone.”

Bridgeville police helped the woman escape her apartment and bring her outside. She was taken to St. Clair Hospital for precautionary reasons, although her identity was not immediately known.

More than a dozen residents in the three-story, 24-unit apartment complex at 316 Hickman St. were sitting outside for about an hour while firefighters went through the building to make sure it was safe.

Ryan Copeland was inside his apartment with his 8-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter when a neighbor pounded on his door telling them to get out.

“There was a lot of smoke in the hallway,” Copeland said. “We all evacuated pretty good. The kids did well. Everyone knocked on doors, but it was just black smoke. You couldn’t see to the end of the hallway.”

All the residents were allowed to return to their apartments shortly before 6 p.m.

SouthBridge ambulance medics assisted any firefighters fatigued from the heat with water and fans

“The guys did a nice job knocking down the fire,” Chilleo said.

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