(Added 4:53 am: Looking eastbound/downhill on SW Holden at the sizable initial response)
3:34 AM: Fire units are at an apartment complex in the 2200 block of SW Holden (map). Scanner indicates the fire is confined to a single unit in a 3-story building.
3:49 AM UPDATE: Both SW Holden and 22nd SW are blocked; our crew on the scene indicates that the fire is closer to 24th, in terms of a cross-street. No indication of any injuries; we had already heard on the scanner that everyone had gotten out of the building OK, and that the fire is “tapped.” Cameraphone photo added; that’s Ladder 13, out of Highland Park’s Station 11.
CLICK AHEAD FOR MORE OF OUR COVERAGE AS-IT-HAPPENED (including video of battalion chief briefing):
4 AM UPDATE: Some of the units are being dismissed (there was a huge initial response because that’s standard for any building of this type/size). Investigators are already on scene to try to figure out how the fire started.
4:14 AM UPDATE: Battalion Chief Phil Jose has just spoken with us and the other media on scene. (video added, above) The fire started on the “exterior” of a second-floor unit, likely in a couch on its balcony; the units above and below that are also affected, and between those three units, nine people will be unable to return to their units (the Red Cross was called in to help them). The battalion chief confirms no injuries.
(Photo tweeted by @feefeelarue, republished with permission)
ADDED FRIDAY AFTERNOON: The official cause – “improperly discarded smoking materials” ignited something on the balcony. The Red Cross is indeed helping the nine people whose three apartments are “uninhabitable” until fixed; damage estimated at $55,000, almost entirely outside.
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