2 firefighters injured battling duplex blaze

Two firefighters were injured Monday when a stairway they were standing on collapsed during a blaze at a duplex in the Westlake area west of downtown, authorities said.

The firefighters’ names were not released. One, a captain, suffered a dislocated shoulder. The other sustained burns to his hands. Both were treated at a hospital and were expected to be released by the end of the day.

Brian Humphrey, a Fire Department spokesman, said firefighters rescued two residents by ladder from the second floor of the duplex, in the 1800 block of West 11th Street. The two, a male thought to be in his late teens and a woman believed to be in her early 40s, declined to be taken to a hospital.

The cause of the fire, which was reported at 3:14 p.m., was under investigation. The house was extensively damaged, but no estimate of financial loss was given.