No One Injured in One Alarm Fire on Eastside

Fast acting neighbors and the timely arrival of firefighters kept a small fire at a condominium in the 600 block of Military East from spreading. No one was injured in the fire.

Ben Hirsch who lives next door to the building where the fire occurred said he thought he smelled burning plastic about an hour before seeing smoke coming from the back deck area of the condominium.

He said he first warned others living in the building about the fire and then used a hose to help neighbors who were trying to control the flames.

In all, four neighbors, Dustin Barstow, John Williams, Hirsch and Charles Sparks used fire extinguishers and garden hoses to keep the fire from spreading and managed to have most of the flames extinguished when firefighters arrived.

"My boys were playing outside," said Barstow who came out when he heard some yelling.  "I saw they needed a hose so I ran home and got one from my neighbor."

The fire was first reported at about 1 p.m. and firefighters arrived on a scene approximately five minutes later.  Most of the damage from the fire was to the exterior of the condominium. 

Fire Department investigators believe the fire was started by spontaneous combustion of two bags of fertilizer that were on the ground near some fallen leaves.

Sparks, who helped with the hoses said his girlfriend told him someone was yelling that there was a fire. "I went over and saw a hose and started spraying water," he said.