Rochester Tenant Not Awakened By Smoke Alarms As Food Burned
Rochester, MN (KROC AM News) - A Rochester tenant was fortunate the food they apparently left cooking on the stove didn’t start a fire.
The tenant wasn’t aware there was a problem until firefighters woke the person up - even though the smoke alarms had been sounding for more than half an hour.
Rochester Fire Department crews were sent to an apartment unit at 509 2nd St NW just after 1:00 am Sunday in response to “a call for smoke alarms sounding in a first floor apartment." RFD says the 2nd floor apartment tenant who called “said the detectors in the apartment below him had been going off for about 30 minutes.”
Fire crews initially did not find any smoke or fire conditions “but a walk around the building revealed a noticeable smell of burnt food."
Firefighters began knocking on the locked door but there was no response. When they looked through a window, they “noticed a flickering light in the kitchen area of the apartment that looked like flames. " They decided to force the door open and after entering the apartment, “found a pot on the stove with visible flames coming from the pot” and smoke.
RFD says firefighters “searched the apartment and discovered one occupant asleep in the bedroom.“ The person "was eventually roused from sleep and evacuated", along with a dog and a cat. The tenant was evaluated at the scene for smoke inhalation.
RFD says damage was limited to the stove top burner - and the pan, which was destroyed.
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