When Central County Fire and Rescue responded to this scene, the back of a top floor apartment was completely scorched, the vinyl siding melted. The tenant wasn’t home when his apartment caught fire.
Central County Assistant Fire Chief Steve Brown says the fire originated on the outside of the building, but the cause is yet to be determined. Foul play is not suspected.
Residents were temporarily forced out of their homes as firefighters worked to put out the flames. The fire spread from the deck, inside the apartment, then up to the attic, but it stopped there, thanks to a firewall. No one was injured. The only damage, besides that one unit, was due to some water that seeped into the unit below.
Brown explains, “It could have been a lot worse. When these units were built, firewalls were required to separate the units. This unit had a firewall that went all the way up to the roof deck on both sides, containing the fire to the attic, just above that one unit, so out of a 12-unit building, we only lost that one unit, and everybody else will be able to stay in there tonight.”