Renters salvage belongings from burned apartments

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - One man is dead and four families were burned out of their apartments as a result of a fire in Mobile Saturday night.

Fire investigators determined the deadly blaze started when someone left something cooking on a stove around 6 p.m. on Saturday.

None of the apartments in the four unit building were spared from the fire at the front of the Oak Knoll complex Saturday.

Some families spent the day on Sunday moving whatever they could salvage from the burned out building.

The fire started in a first-floor apartment where firefighters found a man on the bedroom floor. He was rushed to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation and burns, but he died. One firefighter was treated for a cut on his hand, as well.

Maintenance man Carlitos Cruz said the tenant was cooking just before the fire started.

"Maybe he fell asleep using the stove, and cooking something," Cruz said.

Firefighters confirmed the deadly blaze started in the man's kitchen where they discovered a pan of grease. Investigators also found the stove in the "on" position.

Mary Holloway said she knows the man's wife. At first, she didn't realize her neighbors building was on fire.

"I got a call, and they said the house was on fire, and I went down there," Holloway said.

Most of the people we talked with said they only knew the victim, whose name has not been released, in passing. 

"I didn't know him. I knew of him, that's all.  When I come out all I seen was flames coming out the building," neighbor Austin Summers said.

Some of the families that were burned out have moved into other vacant apartments in the complex.