By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
A Sitka man was medevacked to Seattle Saturday evening with serious burns and other injuries sustained when oil spattered from the pan in which he was cooking frozen vegetables and caught fire.
Police Lt. Lance Ewers said the oil also set fire to sections of the wood floor and carpet, creating dense smoke in the second floor apartment at 113 Harvest Way.
Ambulances and a fire truck were dispatched at 6:10 p.m. after receiving the 911 call, said Fire Chief Dave Miller. A law enforcement official from the U.S. Forest Service arrived first, entered the building and put out the blaze with his extinguisher. The heat and smoke set off two sprinklers, Miller said.
The injured man and a child who sustained smoke inhalation were taken to the hospital, and the building was evacuated, Ewers said.
The burn victim was medevacked to Seattle at 9:53 p.m., Miller said. He estimated property damage from heat, smoke and water at $75,000.
