Hammond apartment damaged in fire

Firefighters from United Fire and Rescue Hammond, Roberts and Baldwin were called to an apartment fire at 1030 Davis St. on Friday, Oct. 5, at around 1:20 p.m. They were able to put the fire out in roughly 10 minutes.

Chrissy Ritchie and Scott Waisanen were in the process of taking items from storage to their apartment. They left to retrieve another load from storage, and returned to their apartment. When they opened the door, they saw smoke in the air.

“We just shut it and called 911 right away,” Waisanen said.

The fire department is still determining the cause of the fire, but it does appear to have begun in the kitchen area.

While the fire was put out quickly, United Fire and Rescue—Hammond Station Assistant Station Chief Erich Weinert said there is smoke damage throughout the building.

Waisanen and Ritchie do have renter’s insurance. Firefighters said Waisanen and Ritchie were lucky because they opened the building’s front door first, rather than entering the back door, near the kitchen.

No one was physically harmed in the fire. The estimated extent of damage inside the apartment is as yet unknown.

Tags: news, fire, communities, hammond