One dead in the apartment fire | News, sports, jobs

The deceased was identified late Tuesday evening as a 65-year-old Darren Duffel in a press release by Blair County Coroner Ray Benton. The forensic doctor's office was able to identify Duffel by cross -matching a surgically implanted prosthesis with medical documents.

Duffel lived in the apartment on the third floor, in which the fire apparently started, says City Fire Inspector Justin Smithmyer.

According to Smithmyer, nobody was injured in the fire.

According to Smithmyer, most residents of the 17 occupied apartments came from the 200 -foot long, three -story, rectangular buildings before firefighters and police arrived from 12:51 p.m. after the alarm.

Most residents of the 17 occupied apartments in the complex on the Burgoon Road and the Sixth Avenue climbed out of the 200 foot long, three -story and rectangular buildings before firefighters and police arrived. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

In all units there were smoke detectors, alarms moved out in common areas and, according to Smithmyer, tenants knocked on the doors to wake other tenants.

Firefighters and the police helped to venture the remaining tenants, he said.

According to Smithmyer, nobody had to be carried out.

The first firefighters arrived after the alarm within 30 seconds, since the city's fire brigade is directly opposite the Burgoon Road from the complex, said Smithmyer.

This alarm also brought the remaining 11 operational firefighters from the other three stations, said Smithmyer.

The roof of the building was destroyed and the third floor was badly damaged, according to City Fire Inspector Justin Smithmyer. Courtesy

A second alarm, two minutes later, brought nine other firefighters who were not free of service, and 20 minutes later a third alarm brought six more, with all firefighters from the city fire brigade, said Smithmyer.

When they started fighting the fire, they looked for occupants who might not escape, but it was not clear who was in the building, said Smithmyer.

Smithmyer “works through theories” in the direction of a cause of fire and “leans” not to be suspicious, he said.

According to Smithmyer,

The Salvation Army, the Amed and the State Police were also on site, he said.

The segments of the building were separated by concrete block walls that stretched onto the roof, but they did not project like Firewalls over the roof, which, according to Smithmyer, may have prevented,

The building is one of three similar ones that include the Colonial Plaza Apartment Complex.

According to the Blair County Assessment Office, the complex is owned by LS Fiore Enterprises LLC.

Michael Fiore, part of the owner group, said the group would not comment on what has currently happened.

The roof of the building was destroyed and the third floor was “very, very badly damaged”, while the lower floors were damaged with smoke and water, said Smithmyer.

He is not sure whether the structure is rebuilt or destroyed and he could not appreciate the loss of money, said Smithmyer.

The building is insured by Cincinnati Insurance, according to the fire investor Greg Agosti by Romualdi Davidson & Associates of Monroeville, a forensic engineering office set by Cincinnati as a consultant.

The company will carry out an independent examination to determine the cause of the fire and at the same time evaluate the remains of the building.

The results can be taken into account in the fate of the building and the ultimate money damage figures.

“(But) Nothing will happen overnight,” said Agosti.

A resident who lives in one of the other buildings in the complex took photos of the flame and shared them with the mirror.

Flames shot 30 feet into the air from the roof, the resident estimated.

“Oh, dear God,” she said, repeating her reaction to see the fire the night before.

She was grateful that it wasn't windy, because if it had been, the fire could have spread into the nearby forest, she said.