Stove fire causes evacuation of Jasper Lofts
About sixty residents of the Jasper Lofts were forced to evacuate the apartment complex Sunday evening when a stove fire set off the sprinklers in a third-floor apartment.
According to Chief Kenny Hochgesang, they were called out at 3:55 p.m. for a water flow activation alarm caused by the stove fire.
According to Hochgesang, no one was in the apartment at the time of the fire, which made it difficult to locate where the fire originated. Fortunately, a resident notified the fire department of smoke on the third floor, and responders were able to locate the apartment where the incident occurred.
The sprinklers had already extinguished the fire when firefighters arrived.
However, smoke from the fire filled the hallway, triggering the building’s alarm and sending residents outside into the cold while firefighters attempted to locate the fire’s source. This also prolonged the time the sprinklers remained activated, exacerbating damage to the building.
The resident of the damaged apartment and potentially four of the other apartments were being assisted with finding places to stay due to the water and smoke damage.
Hochgesang said they were unable to determine the cause of the fire because no one was home when it started.
The department responded with 16 firefighters and four trucks and was on the scene for about an hour.
