CHEEKTOWAGA – Residents at a senior living community got an abrupt wake-up call Sunday morning after an oven fire caused smoke to fill the halls a fire official said.
Hy-View Fire Chief Dan Hatfield tells Cheektowaga Chronicle that his department was alerted around 4:30 am to investigate a fire alarm activation at Maryvale East Senior Apartments at 120 Morman Drive.
Smoke was visible upon the arrival of the firefighters and a chief went upstairs to a second-floor apartment to investigate the cause.
“Leather gloves in the oven and it caused a lot of smoke,” said Mr. Hatfield.
Yes, leather gloves. A resident put her gloves in the oven to dry out. The fire didn’t cause extensive damage and the resident was able to stay in her apartment.
The residents in surrounding apartments were evacuated to a common area on the first floor while firefighters attended to the source of the fire.
“It’s a good place to be because it’s a little cold out this morning. They’re elderly and that’s a safe spot to be and we can get them out relatively quickly if we need to,” added Mr. Hatfield.
It took fire crews around a half-an-hour to clear all the smoke from the building, reset the fire alarm, and allow the residents back into their apartments.
There were no reported injuries.