Fire Department

Several MFD crews responded to Rockefeller Lane for a report of a structure fire at an 8-unit condominium, with smoldering in the second floor siding.  On arrival, crews were met by Madison Police who directed them to the rear of the structure, where they found smoke and a smoldering wall on one side of the balcony of one unit.  The crew used a ground ladder to access the balcony as well as access from inside the unit itself.  They used water extinguishers to put out the fire and various tools to overhaul the area to ensure the fire was out. The fire had burned completely through the deck floor in the outer corner of the balcony and had extended up the wall and under the siding.  There was concern about possible extension through the soffit vent into the attic, but upon removal of the soffit, that appeared to be clean.  At the bottom of the wall, the fire had extended through siding, 1/2" OSB (oriented strand board) sheathing and into the rim joist and studs of the wall.  It did not appear to extend into the interior of the structure.  The crew wet down the area to ensure extinguishment.
 
A resident of the unit with the burned balcony stated that he and other unit occupants were awakened by the smell of smoke, investigated the source as coming from the balcony, called 911, and evacuated.  He admitted to smoking cigarettes on the balcony as recently as 2-1/2 hrs prior to the call and that they had used a plastic pail for ashes and butts; that this pail also contained other trash, and that it had been located in the corner of the balcony where the greatest damage was located.  The crew did not find a plastic pail in this location; however, the floor of the deck was burned through in a circular pattern where the pail apparently had been, and there was melted plastic around the edges of the hole. 
 
The owner of the unit stated that they did not have working smoke detectors in the unit and also claimed that the two pull stations in the unit had been out of service the entire six years that they have lived there.
 
At this point, the crew attempted to reset the two pull stations in the unit without success.  They then met the president of the condo association and visited the garage area of another unit, where the alarm panel is located.  The alarm and trouble lights on the panel were lit and trouble silence and system disable buttons were pushed in.  The crew directed the condo president to contact a service technician to repair and reset the system, and to do it right away.  They also informed her about the lack of working smoke detectors in unit that had the fire.