Senior high rise evacuated
A furniture fire on the second floor of a South Union Township senior citizen apartment complex Thursday night sent four people to the hospital and forced the evacuation of the entire facility for an hour. Fire broke out just after 7 p.m. at Poplar Lane Court on New Salem Road on a recliner in apartment 206 and crews rushed to the scene amid reports of thick smoke and trapped residents. South Union Townshp fire chief Adam Buchheit said the fire was brought down quickly, though all residents were evacuated as a precaution.
The recliner was quickly removed from the building, though the charred remains of a table, the chair, and other debris were scattered through the apartment and throughout the first and second floor hallways.
Crews from Uniontown, South Union, Hopwood, and West Leisenring responded to the fire and at least four residents were taken to Uniontown Hospital with smoke inhalation, according to Dave Cunningham, director of American Ambulance.
“It was a small fire on the second floor, with no major injuries,” he said. “Within minutes, this place was filled with smoke.”
Cunningham said the elevators were not working during the fire, and emergency personnel carried many residents out of the building.
Residents were ushered into a first-floor multi-purpose room until fire crews had cleared the second floor, and worried family members rushed to the scene to comfort their loved ones.
Ruth Richards, 69, was comforting fellow tenant Viola Morris, 96, both of whom live on the second floor. Richards said she was sitting in her apartment around 7 p.m., had heard some women talking in the hall prior to the blaze.
“I didn’t hear anything unusual, and then I heard the fire alarm,” she said.
Buchheit said the cause of the fire is still undetermined, though an ashtray was spotted in the apartment after the fire.