Published July 31 2013
A mattress fire Tuesday morning in a downtown apartment tower, combined with water damage from the building's sprinkler system, displaced residents of 15 apartments.
At 10:44 a.m., a fire was reported on the ninth floor of the Elements Too high-rise on the 900 block of 112th Avenue Northeast.
Firefighters arrived in three minutes, and made their way to the ninth floor. They discovered smoke in the hallway and initiated a request for a "second alarm." After breaching the door to the involved apartment, firefighters discovered that fire had consumed the majority of a mattress in a bedroom. The building's sprinkler system kept the fire from spreading to other units. The fire was extinguished by 11 a.m.
The sprinkler system caused water damage to a total of 15 apartments, starting on the ninth floor and spreading to five floors below the involved apartment.
The estimated damage to the building is $65,000. The cause of the fire has been determined to be discarded smoking material into a wastebasket spreading to the mattress. No residents or firefighters were injured in the fire.