Staff Writer

A smoking interior dumpster forced the evacuation of residents of Pinckney Place late Saturday.

Union Public Safety officers and volunteer firefighters were called to the apartments on 1300 South Pinckney Street around 11:27 p.m. after the building began filling with smoke. Lt. Tony Gregory, City of Union fire inspector, said each hallway in the building from the third floor down contains a trash chute that leads to a dumpster on the bottom floor.

“Somebody dropped a bag in that maybe had a cigarette in it,” Gregory said.

Chief Sam White said the building was not damaged, but 25 or 30 residents had to go outside while the apartments were cleared of smoke.

“A lot of them were in wheelchairs, on walkers, some were using oxygen,” White said. “Thank goodness it wasn't a fire.”

Ventilation fans were brought in and doors and windows were opened and the residents were able to return home.

Other fires

Kelly-Kelton Fire Department fought two blazes within hours of each other on the Eisontown Road Sunday morning.

Chief Kim Hill said the first fire was reported around 5:06 a.m. on 439 Eisontown Road at the brick home of William Brannon. Hill said a family member was in the hospital and no one was at home at the time of the fire, which appeared to have started in a storage room that housed a water heater and an electrical box.

She said it appeared the water heater had rusted out, leaked and the water had gotten into the box.

“It was fully engulfed when I pulled up,” she said. “It was a total loss.”

Kelly-Kelton was assisted by Jonesville and Bonham fire departments in fighting the blaze.

Around 9:22 a.m., Jonesville firefighter Wayne Page was on the way back to that fire scene with a refilled tanker truck when he spotted another fire on 312 Eisontown Road.

Hill said a camper had caught fire at the home of Artis Stewart.

“He was out working in the camper, he had a cigarette and didn't realize fire had come off the end of the cigarette,” she said. “He walked back into the house and the camper caught fire..”

The camper also was a total loss.

Saturday morning around 7:16 a.m., Santuc Fire Department was called to a fire at a hunting cabin in the 4300 block of the Whitmire Highway.

Chief Mark Wade said the two-room wood structure was owned by a Liberty man. The fire was spotted by a passerby and may have been started by a lightning strike sometime earlier.

“Basically it was pretty much completely on fire when we got there,” he said. “We had to protect the other structures around it - two trailers, a house and a garage.”

Santuc and Cross Keys fire departments also fought grass and woods fires Sunday.