ELIZABETHTON — Two people were injured Thursday night as they fled a fire which broke out in a two-story house in the 700 block of West H Street.
Elizabethton Fire Chief Barry Carrier, speaking from the fire scene, said the names of the victims were not immediately known, but one suffered a leg injury in making an escape from the second floor. Carrier said the injury could possibly be a broken leg.
Carrier said the other injury was to an elderly woman who suffered burns. Carrier said he did not know the extent or severity of the burns but he said her apartment might be the origin of the fire.
The cause of the fire was not known.
The house was divided into four apartments. Carrier said only three were occupied at the time of the fire. A total of six people lived in the apartments.
Carrier said the fire department received the alarm at 9:57 p.m. One of the fire truck was on the scene of an accident on Rio Vista Hill at the time and pulled away from that scene to help with the fire.
The first fire trucks to reach the scene reported flames coming from windows on the bottom floor. The residents had already evacuated the building. The flames were quickly extinguished and the fire fighters began working on hot spots and conducting a search of the house to make sure there was no one left inside.
The firefighters remained on the scene for several hours on the rainy night. City Manager Jerome Kitchens was also on the scene to observe the operations and serve as a public information officer.