Sunday fires keep firefighters busy

Apartment fire caused by electrical problem.

March 10, 2008

By Loresha Wilson
ljwilson@gannett.com


Three hours after Yolanda Fuller walked into her living room and saw fire coming from under her sofa, she and her family were packing what was left from the Sunday afternoon blaze into a small sedan.

She recalled the breaker box in her downstairs apartment flipping off moments before seeing the fire, and she said it's only by the grace of God that theirs and other lives were spared.

However, four people were taken to area hospitals after jumping from second-floor balconies and windows at the Kingwood Forest Apartments in the 8200 block of Wild Briar Drive, near Kingston and Mansfield roads. None of the injuries were life-threatening or burn-related, according to fire officials.

"I saw the fire under the couch, and in less than two minutes, my whole apartment was on fire," Fuller, 25, said. "It happened so fast the only thing I could do was get my two children and my sister and brother out.

"The breaker box in my son's room flipped off, and when I turned it back on, there was this loud, clicking noise, so I flipped it back off and walked into the living room. That's when I saw the fire, so I know it did start in my apartment."

The fire was called in at 12:18 p.m. Sunday. When firefighters got there, the structure and the one above it were fully involved, with the fire on the first and second floors and through the roof, Shreveport Fire Department spokesman Scott Wolverton said.

The flames leaped 40 to 50 feet in the air at the height of the blaze. Some 40 firefighters battled the inferno.

More tenants were alerted of the blaze as Dequincy Fuller went door-to-door telling residents to get out. The 21-year-old ran upstairs to warn the neighbors but got trapped and had to jump to safety. He jumped, then assisted 13 others down, he said.

"I jumped over the balcony and started catching others who were jumping," Dequincy Fuller, Yolanda's brother, said. "I fell a couple of times, and I burst one boy's lip when I caught him, but I was just trying to make sure everyone got out safely. All I could think about is making sure no one died."

Six families were displaced by the blaze. Four units received smoke and/or water damage, and the remaining two were damaged by the fire. Fire officials suspect the apartment had burned only a few minutes before firefighters arrived. They arrived on the scene about five minutes after the fire was reported and had it under control at 12:45 p.m., Wolverton said.

"It doesn't take long for fire to spread inside of a house," Wolverton said. "It can get going pretty quick, and being a downstairs apartment, it's always going to extend upstairs."

Investigators determined it was an electrical fire, caused by too many plugs in an extension cord.

Fire officials are investigating the cause of a blaze that heavily damaged a two-story home in the 1000 block of Blanchard Place.

About 4:15 p.m. Sunday, firefighters arrived at the residence near Fairfield Avenue and East Kings Highway and found heavy smoke and flames coming from the structure. No one was home at the time of the fire. Neighbors said the homeowners had just left for a trip out of town but had been informed of the blaze.

It took firefighters more than an hour to get the blaze under control.


©The Times
March 10, 2008