Built-in sprinklers doused a garage fire in an east Vancouver apartment complex early Thursday.
Firefighters were called to The Cove apartments at 2524 S.E. 166th Ave. at 2:25 a.m., according to emergency dispatch logs. They arrived a few minutes later and found a little bit of smoke and water coming out of a garage door near building Y, said Capt. Dave James, a Vancouver Fire Department spokesman.
Firefighters opened the garage door and found the fire was almost completely extinguished by sprinklers, James said. They checked to make sure the fire didn’t extend into the building.
The garage was being used as storage. No one was reported injured.
A Vancouver Fire Marshal said the fire was caused by improperly discarded smoking material, said firefighter-paramedic Kevin Stromberg. It caused an estimated $3,000 in damage to the structure and $6,000 in damage to contents.