VANCOUVER, WA (KPTV) -
An off-duty firefighter helped his neighbor escape a second-story bathroom after fire broke out in the neighbor's Vancouver apartment.
It happened at about 10 a.m. on the 700 block of East 19th street.
A spokesman for the Vancouver Fire Department said a man was taking a shower when he heard his smoke alarm go off. Smoke entered the room when he opened the bathroom door to investigate, so he jammed a wet towel under the door and called 911.
Before fire crews arrived, an off-duty firefighter who lives across the street noticed the man in trouble. Using his own ladder, the firefighter helped the man down from his bathroom window.
Crews arrived while the rescue was still under way and extinguished the fire. Investigators say the fire started behind a dryer in a laundry room adjacent to the man's bathroom. Total damage is estimated to be $12,500.
No one was hurt.
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