Smoke break, phone call leads to fire

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - A smoke break and a phone call led to a fire in Lafayette Tuesday evening.

It happened around 5 p.m. in a third floor unit at Stonecrest Apartments at 19th and Union streets.

Firefighters said a man was cooking something on the stove when he went downstairs to smoke a cigarette. He got a phone call and says he forgot about the food.

Meanwhile, residents saw smoke and heard the smoke detectors going off. The man made it back upstairs with Theresa Howell and opened up the door.

"Very, very scary," Howell said. "Flames, smoke, everything came out. I just got everybody out of the building. That's the important thing."

"Just use common sense and pay attention," said Lafayette Fire Inspector Pat Grimes. "Take it serious when you're cooking something, it doesn't take very long for a fire to get away and displace a lot of people."

Two residents had to be treated for smoke inhalation at the scene.

Union Street was closed for more than an hour.

Firefighters say two apartments are badly damaged by fire and there's smoke and water damage elsewhere.

Although no one was injured in this instance, firefighters said you should never run back into a burning building.