An apartment fire sent a Grand Forks man to the hospital Friday with severe burns and smoke inhalation.
Firefighters quickly knocked down the late-morning fire in the smoky basement apartment, and then found the 51-year-old man unconscious, battalion Chief Rick Coulter said.
Peggy Ferguson, who manages the building, said she heard about the fire from a resident and headed to the 16-plex at 1116 19th Ave. S., getting to the scene before the fire department. She said she entered the building with smoke alarms sounding and started knocking on doors, telling residents to evacuate.
Ferguson said firefighters carried the man out by his shoulders and feet, and then set him on the lawn.
She said, at that point, the man was conscious.
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"He was talking to the EMTs," she said. "His eyes were open. He was looking around."
Coulter said the fire, which burned the carpet and contents of the living room, caused about $7,500 in damage. Smoke, which was coming from the building when firefighters arrived, caused damage throughout the injured man's apartment, he said.
Coulter said other units in the building were affected by the smoke, but it was "nothing too drastic." The other residents were able to return to their apartments Friday, he said.
A resident, who declined to be named, said an emergency worker told her the fire was started by a cigarette.
"They told me that he was smoking, thought a cigarette dropped to the floor," she said.
The woman, who lives above the burned apartment, said a lot of smoke came into her home.
Coulter did not release the cause of the blaze, which, he said, is not considered suspicious.
The injured man, whose name was not released, was being treated at Altru Hospital as of Friday afternoon, Coulter said.
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An Altru spokeswoman said Friday evening she had no information about the man's condition and could not confirm whether he was a patient there.
Spokesmen at MeritCare in Fargo and Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis said the man was not a patient at either hospital.
Reach Ingersoll at (701) 780-1269; (800) 477-6572, ext. 269; or send e-mail to aingersoll@gfherald.com .
