A neighbor’s quick actions played a key role Thursday morning in the containment of an apartment fire to a stovetop and hood, Philomath Fire and Rescue reported.
Local firefighters were dispatched to a reported stove fire at 9:31 a.m. May 30 to a building in the Cambridge Apartments complex at Applegate and South 14th streets.
Upon arrival, Deputy Fire Chief and Public Information Officer Rich Saalsaa said light-colored smoke could be seen pouring out of the front door of a second-story apartment.
Crews pulled a precautionary hose line up to the apartment and discovered that the fire had been extinguished by a neighbor, Saalsaa said.
“The cause of the fire was a pan of melted wax became too hot and caught fire when the occupant tried to cook food on the adjacent burner,” Saalsaa said. “The occupant tried to cool the fire with water, but with the stove still in operation, the wax heated up and burst into flames again.”
Saalsaa said a smoke detector in the apartment did its job to alert the occupant of the fire.
“The quick actions of the neighbor who used a dry-chemical fire extinguisher kept the fire damage to a minimum,” Saalsaa said.
The fire did not spread beyond the stovetop and hood and no injuries were reported.
“Crews turned off the power to the stove as the control knobs had melted off,” Saalsaa said. “In addition, the heat of the fire was drawn to the fan in the kitchen hood and melted the fan blades.”
Philomath Fire and Rescue responded with an engine crew of five, an incident commander, safety officer-investigator. The Corvallis Fire Department and Monroe Rural Fire were initially dispatched each with an engine crew but were canceled en route.