[Press Release] : Late morning fire in Kitty Hawk Apartments causes major damage

[pr-l at news.gocolumbiamo.com]

You have received this message because you subscribe to the City of Columbia’s Web Mail service. To view linked material click on provided links or copy and paste them into your browser's address menu.
______________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Chief Gary L. Warren Jr. - (573) 874-7644

Late morning fire in Kitty Hawk Apartments causes major damage

COLUMBIA, MO (January 21, 2007) -- At 11:21 a.m. on Jan. 21, the Columbia Fire Department received a report of a commercial structure fire at 1611 Kitty Hawk Dr., apartment 1. Early reports indicated a fire in the bedroom reported by a mother of three who was home with the children at the time.

Firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke and flames coming from a first floor bedroom window. Firefighters responding from Columbia Fire Station #4 said that they could see black smoke from Parker and Kitty Hawk as they were responding to the scene. 

In all, 16 firefighters responded to the scene in various apparatus (Quint 4, Snozle 1, Tower 5, Squad 4, a battalion chief and a division chief). The fire was extinguished in less than 30 minutes from dispatch to time of arrival and firefighters were able to rescue a pet cat from a nearby apartment.

Brenda Hackett, who first notified 9-1-1, stated that she discovered smoke while in her apartment. When she investigated the source of the smoke, she found smoke and flames coming from one of the bedrooms of the apartment (the smoke detector began sounding at this time). She then alerted her children to get out of the house before knocking on all of the doors of building and calling 9-1-1. None of the occupants were injured thanks to her timely actions.

At this time, the cause and determination of the fire remain under investigation. Fire investigators did estimate the initial damage to the structure and its contents at $70,000.

In addition to firefighting activities, the American Red Cross was notified to provide clothing and lodging support to the families that had to be moved because of the damage to the building.

- 30 -
______________________________________________________

Archived press releases can be viewed online at: 
http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/Public_Comm/Public_Information/Press_Releases/ 
______________________________________________________

If you would like to stop receiving messages, modify list options, or subscribe to other lists visit the Web Mail section of our Web site and follow the instructions provided. 

http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/Web_Mail/index.php