[Press Release] : FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Electrical Fire Damages Apartment

[Press Releases]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Captain John Metz
Duty PIO Pager 573-499-7035 (24 hours - Please No Voice Mail)
Office 573-874-7644 (M-F, 8-5)


Electrical Fire Damages Apartment

COLUMBIA, MO (May 2, 2012) - At 6:57 p.m. this evening the Columbia Fire Department responded to a reported commercial structure fire at 926 Texas Avenue, near the intersection of Texas Avenue and Creasy Springs Road. The 9-1-1 call came from a property management company representative who stated that a tenant of the apartment building had called her and advised she could smell smoke in the apartment building.

Columbia Fire Fighters arrived on the scene to find smoke coming from the common doorway of a two-story, four-plex apartment building. Building occupants directed fire crews to Apartment "A", a downstairs apartment on the south end of the structure.

Fire fighters forced entry into the vacant apartment and discovered a fire in the utility room of the apartment. Crews used a dry chemical fire extinguisher to extinguish the fire involving the apartment's electrical breaker panel.

Columbia Fire Department Fire Investigator Lt. Tim Bach investigated the fire and determined the cause of the fire to be electrical. Fire damage was contained to the utility closet. Total damage is estimated at $4000. There were no injuries. Smoke alarms were present in the apartment building and were sounding when fire fighters arrived.

Fire crews were on the scene for approximately one hour. The vacant apartment is uninhabitable but the remaining three apartments are habitable. 

The Columbia Fire Department wants to remind residents that working smoke alarms do save lives. Test your smoke alarms at least once a month by pressing the test button. Replace smoke alarm batteries at least once a year. Replace smoke alarms every 10 years. To ensure adequate protection, place smoke alarms in every sleeping room, and in a common area on every floor.


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