Nov. 01--HYANNIS -- A Halloween display on a deck is suspected of causing a fire that sent six people, including an elderly woman with serious burns, to the hospital late last night.
A preliminary investigation by the state fire marshal's office and Barnstable police fire investigator John York suggest the fire began on the deck outside Helen Levesque's third floor apartment in the Hyannis House Apartment complex on West Main Street, police said.
On the porch was a Halloween display that included lights and hay bales, said Barnstable Sgt. Sean Sweeney.
Levesque, 84, was taken by MedFlight helicopter to a Boston hospital. Barnstable police said she was reported to have burns over 80 percent of her body. No further information on her condition was available early this afternoon.
Five other people were injured in a fire at the Hyannis House apartments on West Main Street late last night.
Two of the injured were police officers who helped evacuate residents from the apartment house at 209 West Main St., said Hyannis Fire Captain Eric Kristoferson this morning. Barnstable police said Deputy Police Chief Craig Tamash and a Mashpee police officer who was doing a detail at a nearby road construction site heard about the fire and rushed into the building before firefighters arrived.
The two got occupants of the nearby apartments evacuated but were unable to get into the apartment of the elderly woman because she had collapsed against the door, police said. Heavy smoke drove the officers outside the building as firefighters arrived. Firefighters rushed to the third floor and broke the door in to reach the collapsed woman, thought to be in her 80s.
At least 20 people were displaced as a result of the fire and are being helped by the Red Cross, Kristoferson said. Fourteen of the 110 apartments in the complex are uninhabitable as a result of the fire, he said.
The cause of the four-alarm fire, that broke out around 11:18 p.m., is still under investigation.
Firefighters from seven fire departments including Barnstable, West Barnstable, Centerville-Osterville-Marstons Mills, Cotuit, Sandwich, Yarmouth and Dennis were called in as mutual aid to assist Hyannis firefighters. Several other departments across the Cape filled in to assist the responding departments.
John Walsh, from Hollis, N.H., who was visiting his mother-in-law at the complex, said he saw flames all along the roof of the building and smoke pouring from windows.
Another man, who declined to give his name, said he went up to the third floor of the apartments where he found the smoke was "getting thick really fast."
Reporter Steve Doane contributed to this story.
Copyright 2011 - Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass.
