Firefighters and police officer treated for smoke inhalation, released from hospital after Cheney apartment fire

Two firefighters and a police officer who were hospitalized after Saturday’s apartment fire in Cheney were treated for smoke inhalation and released, officials said.

A resident of the apartment complex also was hospitalized. On Sunday afternoon, a Cheney Fire Department official said he did not know that individual’s medical status.

The two-alarm fire tore through an apartment building that houses elderly, disabled and low-income people in Cheney. The fire was reported about 2 p.m. Saturday in a four-unit building at the 100 Washington Square apartments.

The cause of the fire also remained unclear, but several neighbors said they believed a resident had been smoking cigarettes near her oxygen tank. The neighbors also reported hearing multiple popping sounds which they believed were exploding oxygen tanks.

The units are subsidized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.