Quick Action Limits Chadron Apartment Fire To Kitchen

     A quick response by the Chadron Volunteer Fire Department limited an apartment fire over the noon hour Tuesday to just the kitchen of a single unit of the Maple Ridge Apartments.

    Chief Branden Martens says the renter was cooking with her 2 young children, one an infant, when grease in a skillet ignited. She tried to smother it with flour, but the fire spread before she could.

     The woman got out safely with both children while firefighters ran one line into the kitchen and extinguished the fire before it could get into the structure of the building. 

     Chief Martens says crews checked the ceiling and walls of the kitchen as well as the wall of the adjoining apartment and found no evidence the fire had spread, although the unit with the fire did suffer smoke damage.

      The mother and children were taken to Chadron Community Hospital for possible smoke inhalation, but were released after being checked.

      Chadron police assisted the fire department in evacuating the rest of the Maple Ridge complex, then blocked traffic on Maple Street between 8th and 10th until firefighters completed their work.  Martens thanks the police for their assistance.