A mobile phone left on a bed charging is the suspected cause, at least at the preliminary stage of the investigation, of a fire at 6979 Big Tree Road, Pavilion, this evening.
The fire was called in at 7:03 p.m., according to Tim Yaeger, emergency management coordinator.
It appears to have started in a second-floor bedroom and residents told investigators that a phone was left on the bed plugged into a charger. A 13-year-old resident smelled the smoke and found the fire. He alerted his father and they shoved the mattress out the window but the fire spread quickly anyway.
"How the fire progressed inside the building, we don't know yet because we still need to investigate and then go from there," Yaeger said. "It's kind of early yet."
All residents of the two-unit apartment building escaped safely. There were no injuries reported.
There were one adult and two children residing in each of the apartments.
It was unclear earlier this evening if the structure is a total loss, but it was heavily damaged on both floors with obvious heavy flame damage in the front of the second floor.
Pavilion, Le Roy, and Stafford were dispatched on the first alarm. The second alarm included the City of Batavia FAST Team, but that crew was soon pressed into firefighting duties so Alexander's FAST Team was dispatched.
FAST stands for Firefighter Assist and Search Team.
"They're there to be the rescue team for firefighters," Yaeger said. "So if a firefighter gets trapped, disoriented, runs out of air, something happens to either a firefighter or a team of firefighters, that's what that team is there for."
Also responding to the fire, Bethany, Caledonia, Perry Center, Wyoming, Mercy EMS and the Genesee County Sheriff's Office, along with Emergency Management.
A large response was needed, Yaeger said, because of a shortage of manpower.
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Photos by Howard Owens.
