Three Injured In North Everett Apartment Fire

Update From Everett Fire Department 6:00 PM:
– Shortly after 12:30 a.m. Everett firefighters responded to a report of an apartment fire in North Everett at the Riverdale Apartments – 1810 Chestnut St. Early reports to 911 indicated the fire alarms were sounding, smoke and flames were seen on the second floor, and people were trapped.

Arriving fire crews found a working fire at a second-story end unit with residents trapped in a back bedroom. The crew from Engine 2 located the trapped occupants and deployed a ground ladder to rescue the residents. Both occupants were treated for smoke inhalation. A third person was injured by broken glass. All three were transported to Providence Regional Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries. Additionally, a family dog was rescued.

Firefighters were able to contain the fire to one unit. Two neighboring apartment units suffered smoke and water damage. The American Red Cross responded to help the residents who were displaced by the fire. Mutual aid was provided by Snohomish Regional Fire and Rescue.

The fire is under investigation by the Everett Fire Marshal’s Office. During the preliminary investigation, fire inspectors noted the door to the bedroom where the two residents were rescued was closed. Everett Fire Marshal, Kurtis Brown, stated “the closed bedroom door provided protection for the residents by isolating the fire’s flow, reducing room temperatures, and keeping carbon monoxide levels down.

The action of keeping the door closed to the bedroom provided valuable time for the occupants to be safely rescued by the firefighters.” Everett Fire encourages people to keep doors closed when they go to sleep and close doors during fires. The potential safety effects of a closed door during a fire include the following:
 Lives are saved!
 Reduced smoke in the closed room.
 Reduced temperature in the closed room
 Reduced fire damage in the closed room.
 Increased survivability in the closed room.
 Increased escape times in the closed room.
As with this fire, make sure your fire and smoke alarms are working properly and have a fire escape plan for you and your family.

Initial Report 3:00 AM:

Everett Firefighters had to rescue two people trapped in a second-floor unit at the Riverdale Apartments in the 1800 block of Chestnut after fire broke out around 12:30 AM Thursday morning.

The two were unable to escape and were brought out by firefighters on a ladder run to a back bedroom of the fire unit by arriving crews.

They were transported to Providence Regional Medical Center.

A third person was injured by broken glass and was attended to by arriving Everett Police officers before also being taken to the hospital.

At the time of this writing no word on the extent of the injuries to the three.

It was a full commercial response with two ladders and mutual aid from Lake Stevens Fire.

Crews were able to contain the blaze to one unit though the local chapter of the American Red Cross was called to assist five people whose apartments suffered smoke and water damage.

At this writing an investigator is on scene working to determine the cause of the fire.

We’ll update when more information becomes available.