Fire in Chesterfield closes 10-unit apartment

A Chesterfield resident and a firefighter were injured in an early morning fire at a 10-unit apartment building at 1663 Wishwood Ct. in the Schoettler Village Apartments.

The Chesterfield man, a resident of the apartment where the fire broke out, was taken to a local burn unit with smoke inhalation and burns. He was reported in stable condition.

The firefighter, a member from the Metro West Fire Protection District crew that responded to help firefighter/paramedics from the Monarch Fire Protection District, suffered a minor shoulder injury and was treated and released.

According to Roger Herin, Monarch fire marshal, an ambulance and rescue unit went to the Wishwood address after receiving a call just before 2 a.m. on July 27 that a person there was having difficulty breathing. Arriving at the scene, the crew members found the building was on fire and quickly summoned firefighting equipment before donning their gear and entering the building to rescue the residents.

The burn victim was the first to be evacuated from the apartment that was on fire, Herin said, adding that blaze was venting out of the ground level unit and extending into the unit above and into the attic.

Herin noted that the first Monarch responders entered the building with no hoseline to beat back any flames they encountered.

It appeared many other residents in other apartments weren’t even aware of the nearby fire until the Monarch firefighters aroused them and helped them from the building. Ten of the 21 occupants needed fire department help evacuating the building, Herin said.

When firefighting crews from Monarch and Metro West arrived, they quickly halted the fire’s progress and helped the remaining residents leave the building, using ladders from the ground to apartment balconies in some cases.

Herin said there was an indication as to how the fire started but that the cause wouldn’t be officially released until after he talked with the burn victim.

Later Friday morning, workers were at the scene boarding up windows and making other temporary repairs to the apartment building.