Fire Department

Damages from the fire are estimated at $50,000. The basement and first floor sustained heat, smoke, and fire damage. There's also smoke damage to the second floor. One person was displaced by the fire. The cause remains under investigation. --PIO Cynthia Schuster, cschuster@cityofmadison.com
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UPDATE 3/30/16, 12:53 p.m.:
This fire has been ruled accidental, and the cause remains undetermined. Investigators can’t rule out the possibility that embers from a fireplace ash pit ignited nearby common combustibles, nor the possibility of an unspecified electrical fault in the basement.
--PIO Cynthia Schuster, cschuster@cityofmadison.com

Fire crews responded to the Williamson Street Art Center, after a passerby reported a basement fire.
 
Engine 3 arrived on scene and reported smoke was seen outside of the structure and fire could be seen through a basement window. Upon entering on the first floor, heavy smoke was encountered. Firefighters found the location of the fire, on the first floor and it was quickly extinguished. The fire appeared to extend from the basement, through a vent, onto the first floor.
 
Engine 1 crew members entered the basement, found the location of the fire and it was quickly extinguished. Firefighters subsequently ventilated the basement. 
 
No one was at the business/residence at the time of the fire. The cause of the fire is under investigation.