Massive fire destroys apartment building under construction in Rockville — Gazette.Net

Dan Gross/The Gazette

Firefighters continue to hose down hot spots on the roof of a new unoccupied apartment building on Upper Rock Circle in Rockville after an early morning fire on Tuesday, .

A massive fire at an apartment complex in Rockville has all but destroyed the building that was expected to open in just three weeks.

Smoke billowed and small fires continued to burn at the building called Gable Upper Rock off of Upper Rock Circle near Shady Grove Road and Choke Cherry Road Tuesday morning. No one was injured in the three-alarm blaze that was reported by a security company at about 4:15 a.m. Tuesday, according to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services spokesman Pete Piringer.

The building, called Building G, that included 150 apartment units and an underground garage, was about 90 percent completed, Piringer said.

I would imagine the whole building is a total loss, he said adding there was about 20 feet of water in the underground garage. It is my thinking they will knock the whole thing down and start again.

Water from firefighter hoses poured out of newly constructed balconies as small hot spots still smouldered. Piringer said the fire appears to have started in the roof area and investigators are expected to examine the utility area and HVAC system located there.

The building is deemed unsafe and firefighters have created a collapse zone around its perimeter, according to Piringer.

The building was part of a second phase of the community and was unoccupied, according to Gigi Giannoni, Gables vice president, marketing & public relations. Giannoni could not provide information on the number of units that had already been rented and were waiting for completion to set a move-in date. One-bedroom apartments at the other buildings in the complex rent for about $1,600 a month, according to the companys website

Residents living in two other buildings on the property were forced to shelter in place and had their utilities turned off as a precaution, Piringer said. Residents could not access their cars parked in the garage on the property.

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