Tenant’s Alert Helps Others Flee Fire

Fire in a gabled, old apartment house Friday claimed the lives of two pets and left at least seven people homeless.

The blaze at 1717 W. Pacific in Browne’s Addition caused so much damage it was not known whether the turn-of-the-century building could be repaired, firefighters said.

Battalion Chief Joe Stapleton said the fire started near a couch in the front apartment occupied by Davin Wrzesinski, 20.

Wrzesinski was asleep at about 11 a.m. and awoke to fire. He tried to fight it with a small fire extinguisher, but failed. He fled the apartment and alerted six other tenants who were in the building.

Firefighters found flames shooting out the front and side of the building and leaping up to the roof when they arrived. They cut holes in the roof to get at the stubborn flames, Stapleton said.

Wrzesinski was taken to Deaconess Medical Center for treatment of smoke inhalation and released. He told firefighters the apartment had been equipped with a smoke detector, but he disconnected the battery because it kept going off while he was cooking.

The owner was identified as Jim Red.

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