Aug 21, 2020 2 min read

Two residents were trapped in an apartment building that was on fire Wednesday night in North Franklin Township.

Township fire Chief Dave Bane said everyone eventually was able to safely exit the building, at 407 W. Maiden St., where the fire started on a side porch just before 10 p.m.

Bane said there are about 10 residents living in the seven-unit apartment building. Most were able to get out of the building. Two residents on the second floor only had one way in or out of their unit, which was blocked by the fire on the side porch, Bane said.

“I was in communication with them while they were in their apartments,” Bane said Thursday. “There was very little smoke inside the building, so they were able to stay in their apartments while we extinguished the fire.”

Bane said one of those residents came down to the door, but saw the smoke. Two other second-floor residents were able to make it out a back door from another unit, Bane said.

“They had to go through another woman’s apartment, but if she hadn’t been home, they wouldn’t have had access to it,” he said.

Bane said he’d be contacting code enforcement officials to discuss the layout of the building with its limited exits.

The fire is suspected to have started on the side porch, but the state police fire marshal will investigate, Bane said.

No one was injured during the fire, and Bane said the residents were able to stay in the building overnight.

“We put a piece of plywood down on the porch and some fire line down, so they’d be able to use that exit,” he said.

Assisting North Franklin at the scene were firefighters from Canton, Washington, South Franklin, South Strabane and EMS workers from Ambulance and Chair.