Investigators are looking for the cause of this fire at Pleasant Valley Colony Apartments on Sunday. 73-year-old Vicki Fleck, who lived in one of the senior living apartments, died in the fire. (Photo submitted)
Investigators Tuesday identified the woman killed in a Plain City fire and encouraging residents to take precautions.
Chief Mark Kidd of the Pleasant Valley Joint Fire District, said Vicki Nelle Fleck, 73, of 420 Smucker Lane, Apt. E., was pronounced dead Sunday night at her home, where the fire occurred.
“We don’t have any indication at this point that is was intentional in any way,” Kidd said. “We don’t think it is anything intentional, but that it is accidental, but we are investigating and until that is complete and until the autopsy comes back, we don’t want to say.”
Kidd said that about 8:31 p.m., Sunday, the fire department received numerous 911 calls about a fire in the Pleasant Valley Colony Apartments.
Witnesses report hearing a series of loud explosions, then seeing the smoke and flames. Witnesses said the apartment’s smoke detector was working and active at the time of the phone calls.
The fire chief said firefighters arrived, about four minutes after the initial call. When they arrived, the apartment was “fully engulfed,” Kidd said, with flames coming from both the front and back of the home.
Plain City Police Chief Dale McKee said officers from his department arrived on scene quickly helped evacuate the elderly residents.
Kidd said his crews had the majority of the fire “knocked down within minutes of our arrival.”
He said that as they were fighting the fire, firefighters were also searching the apartments.
As part of that search, Kidd said, firefighters found Fleck, the primary resident, in her apartment.
Kidd said the woman was, “unable to escape the smoke and flames and perished in the incident.”
Fleck’s body was taken to the Montgomery County Coroner’s office for autopsy.
Kidd said the fire serves as a reminder that all homes need a working smoke detector. He said the smoke detector helped notify other residents in the complex of the fire.
Kidd said the American Red Cross has a program that provides free smoke detectors to residents. The smoke detectors can be picked-up at the fire station, 650 West Main St.
“Or they can give us a call and we will come out and bring it. We will even install it if they ask us to,” Kidd said.
He called the program, “a really great thing for our residents.”
The fire department can be contacted by phone at (614) 873-4067.
Kidd said he believes this is the first fatal fire in the more than 28-year history of the PVJFD. He said his crews did, “a phenomenal job.”
“I was very impressed at the amount of fire they were able to put out so quickly,”
The fire chief said adjoining apartments had “some smoke and water damage” but were not destroyed by the fire.