Fire in Greensburg townhouse sends man to hospital

A Greensburg resident was hospitalized for smoke inhalation after a fire broke out Saturday at his home on Odinwood Court, according to Greensburg fire Chief Tom Bell.

Firefighters found the soot-covered man outside the townhouse when they responded to the call at about 9:30 a.m., Bell said.

The man had gone to sleep at 10 p.m. Friday and awoke the next morning to the odor of smoke and a fire in the kitchen, said Bell.

He said firefighters were able to contain flames to the first floor of the townhouse, while there was smoke and water damage on the second floor. The resident of an adjacent townhouse in the same building was evacuated as a precaution.

The fire appears to have started beneath a refrigerator, with the cause remaining to be determined, Bell said.

Firefighters were hampered by a large amount of possessions that made it hard for them to move inside the home, Bell said.

Such conditions “make fires difficult to fight,” Bell said. “We found guns lying in the living room. There were shotgun shells on the kitchen table and ammunition lying all over the place.”

Bell said firefighters were able to douse the flames through teamwork between two crews that entered from the front and rear of the dwelling.

“It was a coordinated interior attack between both teams,” he said.