Fire swept through a garage unit at an apartment complex in the 6000 block of Meridian Drive around 10:30 p.m. Thursday. There is extensive damage reported. There were 22 garage units total.
LFR’ Captain Nancy Crist says, “The garages were all built with walls and sticks for the roof. There is no barrier or fire break between the extended roof and the space. People used those rafters in the roof to store things. That whole attic space was full of people’s items. Because there was no fire stops, there was no walls that went to the top, that fire as able to spread in all directions.”
By the time fire crews arrived, the roof to the structure was sagging. That prevented firefighters from entering.
Crist says, “There was extensive damage to two units – fire smoke and water. And an additional four units had smoke damage. Every single garage in that strip had some sort of damage, either smoke or water.”
The suspected cause was a lightening strike. Damage estimates are not yet available.