CRESTVIEW — An Addison Place resident narrowly averted causing a fire that threatened not only her apartment but also her neighbors’ residences when a neighbor stepped up to extinguish it.
Floren Jilek, a ground floor resident, was grilling pork chops when she stepped into the apartment she shares with her 16-year-old son for a few minutes.
In her absence, grease from the chops dripped onto the electric grill heating elements and caught fire.
Jack Barr, an upstairs neighbor, and a friend were returning to the complex off P.J. Adams Parkway when they saw “a lot of smoke downstairs,” Barr said.
“This lady came running outside holding a fire extinguisher and shouting, ‘I don’t know how to use this thing!’” Barr said.
Barr said Jilek handed her phone to his friend, Dan Denham, a Navy sailor trained in combating shipboard fires, because she was too excited to accurately report the incident.
While Barr blasted the grill and deck area with the fire extinguisher, Denham provided the Crestview Fire Department details of the incident.
“When I opened the grill, it could’ve gone bad,” Barr said. “I was using an oven mitt to open it up and it kind of flared” when he let in oxygen that fed the fire.
Barr extinguished the fire by the time firefighters arrived a few minutes later.
The report stated the grill wasn’t damaged in the incident, but the burning grease and fire extinguisher residue soiled Jilek’s deck.
“There (was) definitely a big mess on her porch,” Barr said.
The incident illustrates the importance of never leaving food that is cooking, whether on an outdoor grill or in the kitchen, Fire Chief Joe Traylor said.
“Anytime that you’re cooking, don’t allow yourself to be distracted, because it only takes seconds to have a fire that could wind up not only ruining your meal but damaging your possessions,” Traylor said.
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Neighbor snuffs potentially dangerous apartment fire