One person was found dead in the attic of a Cincinnati home after a fire tore through the third floor early Monday, and another resident was helped to safety, the Cincinnati Fire Department said.
Fire companies were dispatched about 4:40 a.m. on November 9 for a fire alarm at a single-family residence in the 3300 block of Bevis Avenue in the Evanston neighborhood, according to a Cincinnati Fire Department news release reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer. Arriving firefighters reported heavy black smoke coming from the attic and upgraded the response, with 28 firefighters working at the scene.
Crews found a working fire on the third floor and knocked it down quickly, the fire department said. Firefighters then searched every floor of the home and found one victim dead in the livable attic space, according to the release reported by the Enquirer.
A second resident was helped out of the house and is being assisted by the American Red Cross, WCPO reported. WCPO, citing the Cincinnati Fire Department, also reported that one person was found dead after the overnight fire on Bevis Avenue. The names and ages of the people involved had not been released Monday morning, the Enquirer reported.
The fire caused an estimated $100,000 in damage, the Cincinnati Fire Department said. The department initially provided an incorrect address for the fire before correcting it to the Bevis Avenue location in Evanston, according to the Enquirer.
The Cincinnati Fire Department is investigating what caused the fire. Officials have not said how the fire started, whether working smoke alarms were present in the home, or when the victim’s identity will be released.
Evanston is a neighborhood on Cincinnati’s east side, just north of Xavier University. Attic and third-floor fires can spread quickly through older homes, and fire officials across Ohio routinely urge residents to keep working smoke alarms on every level of a home, including inside and outside sleeping areas.
NewsForce247 will update this story as the fire department releases the victim’s identity and the results of its investigation into the cause of the fire.