Fire starts on roof of Warren duplex
Trending
WARREN -- A fire that started on the roof of an Elm Road duplex caused damage to the building's upstairs late Friday afternoon.
Warren police and firefighters were called to the apartment at 1449 and 1451 Elm Road NE, after workers were believed to have finished a roofing job and allegedly left "hot tar" to rest on top of other materials. There were no reported injuries, and EMT's on the scene said they were dispatched at 4:46 p.m. Everyone was out of the building before they arrived.
"They were doing some roof work earlier on the building," Assistant Fire Chief Chuck Eggleston said while firefighters finished watering the smoke and flames. "We believe that's the area, so we believe that's what caused it. It's a flat roof, but I don't know what all they were doing."
The duplex's landlord and a woman who lives in the upstairs apartment declined to comment.
However, a resident of the downstairs portion of the building, Steven Click, said the fire started "about two hours" after he noticed the roof was being worked on.
Another man who lives near the building claimed that he tried to contact 911 three times, as he "circled the block," but he did not get an answer.
He said the roof began to smolder about 4:30 p.m.
"The smoke was dark, and the heat from the sun must have ignited the hot tar on top of the roof," Click said. "That's probably what caused it. The top of the roof was engulfed in flames. You have to know you can't leave hot tar on a roof like that, on a hot summer day."
The building was not destroyed, but firefighters began to rip out the ceiling of the apartment about 5 p.m. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.