JFRD said the fire was in an attic that was shared by eight apartments, but firefighters did a ‘phenomenal job’ stopping it from spreading.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Fire & Rescue Department responded to a fire at Townsend Apartment Homes in Arlington Hills Friday afternoon.
Though the fire was in an attic connected to eight apartments, JFRD Captain Eric Prosswimmer said crews did a “phenomenal job” putting the fire out “before it destroyed every apartment in that building.”
No one was injured in the fire, but 18 people were displaced — 16 adults and two children.
Crews arrived to heavy smoke and evacuated people out of all the apartments.
The crews immediately called for backup, deeming the situation a second-alarm fire.
In the end, only two units were damaged by fire. Two more received water damage.
Power is off in the entire building at this time.
The Bureau of Fire & Arson Investigations are investigating the cause of the fire.
Prosswimmer said that JFRD has “suspicions” but will allow the investigators to make a determination.
He praised the firefighters: “You’ve got a common attic space above all these units and fire just rips right through it. They noticed that the fire was in the attic quickly, they acted upon it, they got ahead of it… Pretty incredible.”
The fire was also in close proximity to two other buildings, but was stopped from igniting them.
