Firefighters extinguished a fire, believed to be originating from an electric dryer, in the basement of 126 Linden Ave. at around 10 a.m. Monday, according to a statement.
The fire had activated the building’s fire alarm, and a female caller dialed 911 and notified residents of the building, which houses nine tenants. Everyone was evacuated from the building and no one was injured in the fire.
Peter Sleeper ’16, Christopher Porcaro ’16 and John Pollack ’16, next door neighbors, also helped contain the fire when they ran over with two fire extinguishers after noticing the heavy smoke coming from the basement’s building. After using the extinguishers on the fire they closed the door before leaving.
“Peter grabbed one of our house’s fire extinguishers and I grabbed the other one. The three of us ran over, pulled open the door, and tried to aim the fire extinguishers as far back into the room as possible,” Pollack said.“Because of the smoke, it was difficult to keep the door open and keep spraying the fire extinguishers. Eventually we closed the door to wait for the fire department to come.”
A fire engine then arrived less than two minutes after the 911 call and completely extinguished the fire.
“Fire officials credit the working alarm system, the alert 911 caller and Mr. Pollack for using the extinguishers and closing the door, with keeping this fire from getting bigger,” a statement from the Ithaca Fire Department said.