West Middle Turnpike Kitchen Fire Sends Burn Victim to Hospital

One person was injured Sunday when an early morning kitchen fire broke out in a condo unit on West Middle Turnpike, according to fire officials. 

Fire Chief Robert Bycholski said that a fire broke out at an eight-unit condo development at 452 West Middle Turnpike shortly after 4 a.m. Sunday morning when a 20-year old woman awoke to find heavy smoke in her downstairs apartment. Bycholski said the woman, who was sleeping on the couch, then went into the kitchen and saw a frying pan on the stove on fire, and suffered serious burns when she tried to lift the pan off the stove. 

The woman and her nine-year old son, who was sleeping in the bedroom, evacuated the apartment, according to Bycholski. Three occupants in the unit above the apartment also evacuated the building. 

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Bycholski said that fire personnel arrived on the scene at about 4:30 a.m. and extinguished the fire after it had extended to the dinning and living room areas. 

The unidentified woman who received the burns was transported to Manchester Memorial Hospital with "partial and full-thickness burns" to her hands and fingers, treated at the hospital and released. No other injuries were reported. 

Bycholski said the occupant stated that she had been frying chicken on the stovetop earlier, but thought the burners were off before she went to bed. The unit was declared uninhabitable by the Manchester Building Department, and the American Red Cross and Manchester Human Services Department were assisting the family with temporary accommodations. 

Bycholski noted that fires caused by unattended cooking is the leading cause of home fires and injuries nationally and account for an estimated 642,000 burn injuries each year. He said that unattended cooking fires have been the leading cause of home fires in Manchester three of the last five years.