A 71-year-old Canton man died Friday after being pulled from an apartment fire Thursday night.
According to the Canton Fire Department, the fire occurred shortly before midnight Thursday at an apartment building in the Legends Pointe complex in the 1800 block of Trinity Place NW.
Fire crews arrived at the scene to find fire in an apartment in the basement of the building and heavy smoke throughout the building, hindering residents on the upper floors from escaping.
The victim, identified as Ronald Mikes, was pulled from the apartment where the fire started and taken to Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital with life-threatening injuries, officials say. Mikes succumbed to his injuries on Friday.
Division Chief Steve Henderson said two women in other apartments were afraid to get out because the smoke was too thick.
"The conditions described by the person that called in to dispatch were she opened up the door to the hallway, and she couldn't see her hand in front of her face down the hallway," Henderson said.
Firefighters were able to get one woman out of a third-floor window and down a ladder to safety. Another woman was rescued from the second floor. Firefighters took her down the stairs.
"Obviously, the biggest killer in structure fires is smoke. It's just a situation where a few minutes later, it could have been much worse," Henderson said.
Apartment resident Micah Frye praised the quick actions of the firefighters.
"They were absolutely fantastic. They were keeping us updated. They in there as quickly as they possibly could," Frye said.
Frye and his fiance had scrambled to safety just minutes earlier after smoke came through the floorboards on the second floor.
"People are out here crying; they're upset. They're freaked out. They can't breathe, you know, it was extremely intense," Frye said.
Another resident, Becca Collins, was unaware there was a fire until firefighters kicked in an apartment door.
"I got woke up to the fire department trying to get in my apartment to evacuate me, and they said there's a fire in the building," Collins said.
No firefighters were injured in the incident. The Red Cross responded to the fire to assist displaced residents.
The fire is currently under investigation by the Canton Fire Department Fire Prevention Bureau. Most of the damage was contained in one apartment.
Residents have been allowed back into their homes.
Frye remains rattled by what happened, but he's also counting his blessings.
"When we look back, if we were asleep, we could have been some of the ones rescued," Frye said.
