A fire on one of the year’s coldest nights killed a 90-year-old man and left close to two dozen elderly people needing other places to sleep.
The call came in to the fire department shortly before 5:30 p.m. at the Robeson Apartments, a federally subsidized complex for seniors in a converted former school building at Rosette and Dewitt streets in the Hill neighborhood.
Here’s what happened, according to Assistant Fire Chief Matt Marcarelli:
Fire Lt. Kendall Richardson arrived and was greeted by a woman who said the alarm had gone off.
“Do you smell smoke?” Rchardson asked the woman.
“No,” she replied.
“I do.”
Richardson followed the smell to a second-floor apartment, where a fire indeed had started inside.
Firefighters Adam Senatro, Corey Brown and Kevin Seidlarz stretched a hose line in to the building and “made a quick knockdown of the fire.”
However they also found a 90-year-old man who lived in the apartment just inside the door, and unconscious.
The firefighters dragged the man to safety. Paramedics Ryan Wysong and Shane Ferguson tried to resuscitate him with CPR all the way to the hospital. He never gained consciousness; he was pronounced dead at the hospital. (The victim’s name was not available at 9 p.m. Thursday.)
Another man living at the complex complained of smoke inhalation. He declined treatment.
The fire was contained to the one apartment. However, because of extensive smoke and water damage in the building — “water went down an elevator shaft and infiltrated” the electrical system — “the fire marshal was not comfortable with tenants reoccupying the building” Thursday night, Marcarelli said.
The Red Cross was called in to find other sleeping arrangements for the occupants of the 22 apartments. The building is expected to be cleared for occupancy again Friday night.
The fire was believed to have started in the bathroom of the second-floor apartment. The cause is under investigation.
Matthew Harp, son of Mayor Toni Harp, owns Robeson. He was at the scene of Thrusday evening’s fire.