New York Apartment Fire Made Difficult Due to Clutter

CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. (WIVB) – An apartment fire in Cheektowaga wasn’t an easy task for firefighters.

Around 3:15 a.m. Thursday, firefighters got a call that a fire broke out in a two-bedroom apartment, on the third floor of the Idylewood Resort Apartments on State Creek Road, off French Road.

The fire alarms were going off when crews got there.  Everyone was evacuated out of the three story apartment building.

When firefighters got to the apartment where the fire started they ran into some problems.  Officials say there was so much clutter piled high that the crews had to crawl on their stomachs to get to the back bedroom where the flames were. It took them about ten minutes to crawl over the stuff.

When they got the fire under control, officials started throwing out all the items from the apartment onto the ground below. The pile was several feet high filled with a bike wheel, fan, wires, a suite case, among other things.  

Firefighters say one man was living in the apartment and he was already out when they got there. The structure wasn’t damaged but the inner contents were.

It’s still unclear why the fire started.

No injuries were reported but the fire chief says his crews were tired.  Everyone was allowed back inside once it was safe and the utilities went back on.

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