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Woman Burned In Richmond Apartment Fire

RICHMOND (BCN) -- A fire at a Richmond apartment building under foreclosure sent a woman to a local hospital with second-degree burns Wednesday morning, Fire Chief Michael Banks said.

The single-alarm fire was reported around 7:45 a.m. at a building in the 1000 block of Roosevelt Avenue, Banks said.

The building, which was being foreclosed on, had one legal tenant in a downstairs apartment and four others living in two upstairs apartments illegally, Banks said.

Firefighters responded and extinguished the fire around 8 a.m., Banks said.

A woman trying to escape the blaze suffered second-degree burns to the lower part of her body, he said. She was taken to a local hospital and is expected to survive.

The fire was apparently sparked by a candle in an upstairs apartment, Banks said. He did not know if the candle had been lit because the tenant did not have electricity.

Four adults and one child were displaced from the building. The American Red Cross responded and is assisting the residents, Banks said.

He said the fire caused about $250,000 in damage to the building and its contents.

(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)

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