On May 12, 2022, at 6:13 pm, Athens-Clarke County Fire & Emergency Services received notification that a fire alarm was activated at the Arch Village Apartments located at 205 Bray Street. Our first unit arrived on the scene at 6:17 pm and reported seeing smoke coming from an open door of one of the apartments on the second floor. The Incident Commander requested additional units to respond to the location as crews made efforts to begin an interior attack on the fire. Bystanders stated that children were still inside the apartment.
The crew of the first arriving engine company made a rapid search of the apartment and found that nobody was inside. They discovered the fire had been extinguished by the sprinkler system prior to entry and kept the burning material confined to its location of origin. Our firefighters then turned off the sprinkler system and used squeegees to remove the standing water from the affected apartments.
Fire Chief Jeff Scarbrough would like to remind the community of the importance of having working fire sprinklers. He stated, " According to the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association), in fires where sprinklers were present, fires were kept to the room of origin 97 percent of the time." He continued, "We are happy to see that the sprinklers did their job, and our firefighters were prepared to quickly and effectively handle this emergency".
The fire was determined to be accidental in nature and residents were taken care of by the management of the complex. No injuries were reported.