A fire at a southside Des Moines apartment complex on Monday, May 4, displaced dozens of residents. The building is expected to be a total loss.
A fire started in the attic of a three-story apartment building in the Evergreen Terrace Apartments, 2101 E. Caulder Ave., around 4:15 p.m., according to Des Moines Fire Department spokesperson Lt. Tyler Mark. Initial responders saw smoke but no fire.
“The first crew went up to the third floor and identified that the fire was in the attic at that time,” Mark said. “They didn’t have anything on the third floor yet, but they reported that the attic was fully involved.”
“Crews attempted to start fighting the fire in the attic, but it did eventually make its way to the third floor,” Mark said. “And with all the smoke, that is the point where it started getting pretty hairy and sort of had some of the ceiling collapse down.”
The residents of the apartment building self-evacuated before the fire spread to the lower floors. Crews conducted a primary search of each floor to confirm that the building’s approximately 70 residents had been safely evacuated.
An initial crew of three fire engines, three trucks, two ambulances and two fire chiefs were dispatched to the scene. Two more trucks, engines and an ambulance, as well as a call for another chief, were dispatched after the fire began to spread to lower floors.
All of the building’s residents were safely evacuated and taken to Red Cross shelters or relocated to nearby apartment complexes, according to Dutch Geisinger, deputy director of Polk County Emergency Management.
Shelters were set up at Des Moines University and the Pioneer Columbus Community Recreation Center, Geisinger said. Polk County Behavior and Disability Services and Community Family Youth Services aided the Red Cross and Polk County Emergency Management in relocating displaced residents.
The Animal Rescue League of Iowa also took in pets that were displaced in the fire.
“Once we know the needs better, we’re going to be able to better identify where to fill the gaps with,” Geisinger said.
A Facebook post from the Des Moines Fire Department said the fire’s “head start and strong winds contributed to the building likely being a total loss.”
Crews had the fire under control around 8:15 p.m. Monday, Mark said, but crews are still on the scene as of 11 a.m. Tuesday morning.
“It’s still an active scene. We saw people there now chasing hot spots and unfortunately just the condition and dumping all the water that you have to,” Mark said. “It’ll be ongoing for quite a while.”
Mark said the cause of the fire, while it started in an attic, is unknown.
“Investigation will take quite a while with all of the water and fire damage, so the structure is unstable,” Mark said.
Mark said that because of the age of the building — built in 1977, according to Polk County Assessor records — there were no sprinklers to mitigate the spread of the fire.
“There wasn’t much we could do from the inside, so unfortunately, we had to do it all from the outside, which is never a good outcome,” Mark said.
Staff at Evergreen Terrace Apartments did not return a call for comment Tuesday.
Kyle Werner is the breaking news and public safety reporter for the Register. Reach him at kwerner@registermedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Fire at Des Moines apartment complex displaces around 70 residents
Reporting by Kyle Werner, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
