Fire displaces WP residents

Fire damaged four units in Waterview Park (WP) building 12 March 21.

According to Chris Dickson, a lieutenant with the UTD Police, the residents of units 1215, 1225, 1235 and 1236 were relocated to University Village after fire - allegedly caused by a discarded cigarette - rendered those units uninhabitable.

Dickson said those units will have to be completely renovated.

The cigarette that alledgedly caused the fire may have been placed in a crack in the wall on the patio of the unit where the fire reportedly started, where it ignited other cigarettes already in the wall.

From there, the fire spread upwards into the above units.

"The inside of the wall acted like a chimney," Dickson said. "It channeled the fire upwards very quickly."

Residents of building 12 and other students gathered on a grassy hill adjacent to the building to watch as firefighters cut holes in the roof with chainsaws and sprayed water into the building's walls and attic space.

According to Alan Polomba, the Fire Chief for the City of Richardson, firefighters made holes in the roof in order to control the spread of the fire.

Polomba said fire response was especially quick for this incident because one of his units saw the smoke while returning from another call.

"Our guys were headed back in when they saw smoke," Polomba said. "They radioed the station and headed [to WP]."

No injuries were reported, and some students said they weren't aware of the fire until they heard alarms or saw other students leaving the building.

"I was asleep, I heard some loud noises and then a knock on my door," said biochemistry junior David Heidtman. "The guy [at the door] said 'The building's on fire, you should probably leave'."

Jonathan Denton, area manager for WP apartments, said estimates for the damage are pending investigation.

"We've had an insurance adjuster out to look at the property," Denton said. "However, it could be weeks before we have an estimate."

Denton said the property damage could range from $75,000 to $125,000, but until WP's insurance company finishes their report, he couldn't say for sure.

Denton said the units themselves suffered minimal damage, however, the support columns in the building and the attic suffered greatly from the fire. He estimated repairs could take four to six weeks to accomplish, but would begin as soon as possible.

According to WP's records, the persons occupying the unit where the fire began were not on the lease. Denton said he believed they were housesitting for the residents of that unit.

"We found them on the hill watching the fire department work," Denton said. "They said they were just housesitting but were not especially helpful."

Denton said the persons in questions were allowed back into the unit to collect some personal belongings before the unit was closed off.

Denton said the City of Richardson Fire Marshall has ruled the fire accidental, and no charges have been filed at this time.

"Our priority at this time is making sure the affected residents get relocated and taken care of," Denton said. "After that we'll worry about the units."

Be the first to comment on this article!

Add comment


I am not posting spam. I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Enter the characters in the image above:

log out