Oily Rags Spark Apartment Fire on Division Ave

Incident Date: 12/7/12
Issuing Officer: Joe Meinecke
Incident Location: 1617 Division Ave
Incident Type: Residential Structure

Narrative: At 1:56 a.m. seven companies of Tacoma Firefighters (four engines, one ladder, one medic company, a safety officer and command staff) responded to a reported apartment fire.

Arriving companies found a first floor apartment fully charged with smoke and fire. Crews worked swiftly to attack the fire that had burned through the floor into the basement of the building, ventilate the smoke from the area, and alert and evacuate occupants in neighboring units. The fire was contained to the apartment of origin and there were no injuries to report.

The vacant apartment was under remodel and the cause of the fire was determined to be spontaneous combustion of oily rags left in a metal can. The fire resulted in an estimated $75,000 dollars damage to the building and its contents.