Sprinklers help limit fire damage to Vancouver apartment complex

Sprinklers at a Vancouver apartment complex limited the fire damage from a Tuesday morning blaze to a single unit, fire officials said.

Firefighters were called to Redwood Acres apartments, 3409 N.E. 62nd Ave. in Vancouver’s Bagley Downs neighborhood, about 5:15 a.m., Vancouver firefighter Pete Adams said. Arriving crews reported a working fire coming from the third floor and that all of the occupants had evacuated, Adams said.

The sprinklers kept the fire from spreading, and arriving crews doused the flames, bringing it under control in about 20 minutes, Adams said. There were no injuries.

The unit affected was heavily damaged by fire, adjacent units sustained smoke damage and the units below sustained some water damage, Adams said. Vancouver Fire Marshal Heidi Scarpelli said that the total damage is estimated at $60,000.

The two people who lived in the fire-damaged unit were displaced, Adams said, but apartment management was making plans to house them in a different unit.

Scarpelli said the fire was caused by an unattended candle left in the bedroom near the head of the bed.

“The important note here is that a lit candle is an open flame, it’s definitely a fire hazard,” Scarpelli said. “This was definitely a preventable fire. … It was fortunate that the apartment complex had a sprinkler system that was completely operational and functioned the way it was designed.”

e.