Warren firefighters responded just before 7 p.m. Friday to 1534 E. Market St., at the corner of Homewood Avenue, for a vacant house fire. When firefighters arrived, all three floors were on fire and thick black smoke could be seen for several blocks in all directions. One firefighter was injured, according to Warren fire Capt. Bill Gadd. Tribune Chronicle / Renee Fox

WARREN — One of the city’s 18 new firefighters was injured while battling a vacant house fire Friday evening at 1534 E. Market St., according to Warren fire Capt. Bill Gadd.

The firefighter’s injuries were not serious, but Gadd said he had to be helped out of the house and was taken by ambulance to St. Joseph Warren Hospital for tests. Gadd said most of the firefighters who responded to the blaze were recently hired.

“They did a good job. It was a large fire,” Gadd said.

The department was disptached to the fire at the corner of Homewood Avenue, across from the parking lot of Trumbull Memorial Hospital, at 6:49 p.m. When firefighters arrived, all three floors of the wood-frame structure were on fire, Gadd said. Thick black smoke could be seen for several blocks in all directions.

Gadd said crews had the flames on the first and second floors extinguished quickly, but they ran into trouble extending hoses to the third floor and tight spaces around the chimney, so it took more than 30 minutes to douse those flames. He said crews remained on scene until almost 10:30 p.m. to put out hot spots.

“When a fire burns that long and that hot, there’s a greater chance for a rekindle, so we wanted to make sure we got it all out,” he said.

The cause is still under investigation and the amount of damage is unknown, but Gadd said the entire house sustained heavy fire, smoke and water damage. He said it appears the house used to be some kind of medical office.

The house is owned by Warren Ohio Hospital Company LLC, according to the Trumbull County Auditor’s website. The property is classified as a medical office or clinic and was sold to the Kansas-based company by Trumbull Memorial Hospital in 2010.

Traffic in front of the hospital going east and west was reduced to one lane until after 10 p.m. while crews battled the flames. Woodbine Avenue was blocked off as well.

rfox@tribtoday.com

mkosinski@tribtoday.com