News

Small Fire at Under-Construction Apartment Building Prompts Big Response

A cavalcade of fire department vehicles descended on an under-construction apartment complex in Clarendon this morning.

A fire was reported on the fourth floor of the partially-built 10th Street Flats building at 932 N. Highland Street just after 11:30 a.m. The 143-unit luxury residential community is expected to be completed by this fall.

Initial reports suggest there was a small fire between the walls on the fourth floor, which was mostly extinguished before firefighters arrived on scene. Crews checked to make sure the fire had not spread and are now ventilating the structure.

Construction workers were evacuated from the building during the incident, while firefighters diverted traffic from 10th Street N. They initially connected hoses to the nearby fire hydrants ready to tackle a blaze, but by noon were beginning to disperse.

The small blaze follows a series of huge, high-profile infernos at similar under-construction apartment complexes in College Park, Md.; Raleigh, N.C.; and Maplewood, N.J. Like those buildings, 10th Street Flats is “stick-built” — constructed primarily of wood.