Fire forces evacuation at Austintown apartment building

The Austintown Fire Department responded to calls of a fire at an apartment building around 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

The incident occurred at a Westchester Apartments building, located at 4815 Westchester Drive, Austintown.

Austintown Fire Department Chief David Schertzer told 21 News that the fire occurred while a resident was cooking.

According to Chief Schertzer, the pot that the resident was cooking in caught fire.

The resident took the pot into the hallway to try and extinguish the flames using the hallway fire extinguisher, but was unsuccessful.

"[The resident] grabbed the hallway fire extinguisher and tried to extinguish the fire, but it kept flaring up, it was a grease fire, so it was still flaring up," said Chief Schertzer.

Responders were on scene to assist several residents with evacuation out of their apartment windows.

"Today, I think there was about four or five that we had to assist get out," said Chief Schertzer.

No injuries were reported in this incident.

Chief Schertzer shared some tips for apartment residents on what to do in situations like this if they find smoke filling their building.

"Get a wet towel, put it at the bottom of the door - just a towel or blanket, something at the bottom of the door to keep smoke from entering your unit," said Chief Schertzer. 

Chief Schertzer went on to say that once residents do this, they should move to an apartment window for rescue if they cannot get out of the window on their own. 

Download the WFMJ app for your Apple or Android smartphone or tablet to get our push alerts as news happens.