Fire Department

A stovetop fire was caught quickly and extinguished by an automatic fire sprinkler in a downtown apartment. The occupant told firefighters he put a box on the stove, but wasn’t using the stove at the time, just before taking his dog for a walk for a few minutes. When he returned, he found heavy smoke in his kitchen.

Alarms activated, and people began evacuating the building located on the 300 block of W. Main Street. The fire was completely extinguished by the automatic sprinkler prior to firefighters’ arrival.

Damage included a melted microwave and the burned box on top of a stove. Engine Co. 1 turned off the sprinkler to shut down the water flow, and firefighters began removing water from the apartment. Two other apartments below the unit were affected.

There were no injuries reported. The occupant, who had renter's insurance in place, is temporarily displaced.