Just before 10:30am earlier today the Huntingburg Fire Department was called to the 200 Block on South Walnut Street. In the four apartment house building they learned that a fire had occur in the bottom section of the house. Upon further investigation they learned that the fire started inside the kitchen closet.
There were no serious injuries however, Huntingburg Fire Chief Scott Patberg elaborates on the action taken by the Huntingburg firefighters as they realized there were residents in the upstairs apartments.
Megan and Cody Petry were rescued from the right side of the apartment house as they were helped down a ladder.
Megan Petry describes that she and her husband, Cody, had been sleeping in their apartment when they heard people yelling from outside. As they realized what was going on they tried to exit through their front door but were overwhelmed by the smoke from downstairs and immediately looked outside the window for help. This is when her upstairs neighbor, Nakea Brown, who lives across the couple on the left side of the house saw the Petry couple from outside.
Brown stated that she had detected the smoke and had already hurried outside the house with her baby.
Mrs. Petry continues by saying “If it weren’t for Nakea getting help, I don’t know what would have happened”. Megan and Cody Petry were able to get their 3 dogs out of the building, the Huntingburg firefighters rescued 1 of their cats, and the other cat remained inside their apartment. Mrs. Petry expressed concerned for her property as they had recently refurnished their apartment.
Fire Chief Patberg states that there were only 2 working smoke detectors in the apartment house and there was a non-working smoke detector in the apartment where the fire started.
He adds that at this time their fire investigator is still looking at what caused the fire.
The firefighters were able to distinguish the fire and remove the damaged material from inside the structure. The Huntingburg Fire Department was assisted by the Huntingburg Police Department and the Memorial Hospital EMS.
