A townhouse under construction was destroyed and three more
units damaged when a suspicious blaze erupted in the unoccupied
Cannery housing development east of downtown.
A townhouse under construction was destroyed and three more units damaged when a suspicious blaze erupted in the unoccupied Cannery housing development east of downtown.
Commuters returning home about 5 p.m. Friday saw flames leap four stories high as a dark plume of smoke rose high above the city. The fire they saw and smelled was at a construction site near the intersection of Fifth and Forest streets where South County Housing is building 32 houses as part of the Cannery project, which will boast 200 mixed-income homes and 40,000 square feet of retail space when completed.
Firefighters and police closed off Lewis Street from Chestnut Street to an alley west of Alexander Street and Forest Street from Martin Street to IOOF Avenue for at least three hours, snarling local traffic as Sixth Street was already closed due to construction on a future bridge. Though the blaze grew quickly, it did not spread far and firefighters put it out within 45 minutes.
The fire damage was minimal, with early estimates of only tens of thousands of dollars in damages and a few weeks of delay, said Jack Foley, South County Housing’s public information officer.
“It could have been horribly worse,” said organization executive director Dennis Lalor, sizing up the damage Friday night. “It’s extremely fortunate that … the fire department reacted as quickly as they did and … the way this was built kept the fire from spreading.”
The fire started in the middle of a row of eight two-story townhouses. Because sheet rock separated the townhouses, the blaze burned almost entirely in the fifth townhouse, Division Chief Clay Bentson said.
However, flames lapping out windows charred the sides of the fourth and sixth townhouses and water doused on the complex by firefighters caused some minor damage to three townhouses, Foley said.
These eight townhouses were scheduled to be finished by fall 2009 and sell for between $300,000 and $600,000 depending whether they were marked as below-market or market rate, Foley said. South County Housing has already built and sold homes nearby.
In general, damage to projects like these is covered by insurance, Foley said.
“It’s just a little bump along the road,” he said.
Meanwhile, firefighters are investigating the cause of the fire, which is suspicious for a number of reasons, including that electricity was not yet hooked up to the townhouses.
Nearby residents said they saw someone running from the construction site, which was surrounded by light fencing, Fire Investigator Andy Holiday said. Firefighters found a pressurized aerosol can – the contents of which could create a dangerous fireball when shot over an open flame – at the scene, but there was no signs of spray-paint vandalism inside the building. There was also no sign that homeless people had been living in the townhouses or had built a fire for heat, Holiday said.
Though he would not give a reason, Holiday said the investigation would likely make a significant move forward within the week.
