MADISON, Wis. -

The fire department said the "powerful" fire the took down a large apartment building last week on damaged more than a dozen nearby homes and melted parts of the fire engine.

Madison Fire spokeswoman Bernadette Galvez said Thursday that crews responding to the fire last Friday night worked to wet down homes near the four-floor structure that was emitting heat hot enough to melt parts of a fire engine and cracking windows in adjacent buildings. The fire at a building under construction on the 500 block of Apollo Way was initially reported by drivers seeing smoke and flames from Interstate 90 at about 7:30 p.m., officials said last week.

"The radiant heat from the fire was so intense that firefighter air packs were hot to the touch, fire gear started to melt and fire engine tires were smoking," Galvez said Thursday. "This powerful fire would burn any exposed skin if not covered."

Galvez said crews arriving to the scene could feel heat from the blaze 100 feet away through the fire engine windshield. Parts of the engine can be seen melted and warped in photos provided by the Madison Fire Department.

Images of nearby homes showed melted, rippled siding the department said was caused by radiant heat.

The building complex that burned is a total loss estimated at $3.5 million to $5 million.

The fire investigation continued Thursday, Galvez said.

Published On:Aug 08 2014 08:24:58 PM CDT Updated On:Aug 14 2014 01:27:53 PM CDT

A large fire broke out in an apartment building in the Grandview Commons subdivision on Madison's east side Aug. 8. Photos show the building burning and subsequent damage caused by heat from the big blaze.

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Heat from fire damages 14 nearby homes, fire engine

A Frisco development that stalled during the recession is reviving with new construction.

A 275-unit urban-style apartment project will be built in Frisco Square by developer PegasusAblon and investor Behringer.

Its the second major addition announced in the last few months for Friscos 14-year-old town center on the Dallas North Tollway.

We are putting the same kind of amenity base in the project that people want in Uptown and Legacy, said developer Michael Ablon. Theres a large constituency that wants that in Frisco.

The four-story Ablon at Frisco Square will be constructed south of Main Street and just across from Friscos City Hall.

Ablon said the apartments, designed by BGO Architects, will open at the end of next year.

The Frisco rental complex will be of the same quality that developers are building in Uptown and other popular central Dallas neighborhoods, he said.

Everybody talks about the generation that wants the urban lifestyle in Uptown, Ablon said. But there is a large number of the same folks that want the same things but are more suburban.

PegasusAblon has already built one successful Frisco apartment project.

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New apartment community on the way at Frisco Square project

More than 70% of apartment renters reported owning pets, with cats and dogs as the most popular types, according to a survey released Tuesday.

Despite the high pet ownership numbers, the survey by Apartments.com found that it may still be hard for renters to find a pet-friendly apartment.

Nearly two-thirds of pet-owners in 2014 reported having some difficulty finding an apartment that allows pets, but the rental listing website said that may be changing.

We see the rental industry moving toward accommodating the needs of this important and growing segment of renters, Tammy Kotula, spokesperson for Apartments.com, said in a statement.

The survey found that apartment building's pet policies played a major role in the decision about where to rent for nearly nine out of 10 pet owners.

Seventy percent of pet owners said their choice of where to rent was influenced by nearby pet amenities, such as parks, veterinary facilities and pet stores.

We believe these trends may increase demand for new apartment construction that includes innovative pet-friendly spaces, amenities and policies, said Brad Long, president of Apartments.com.

In downtown Los Angeles, the newly opened Avant South Park Apartments is hoping to appeal to dog owners with amenities such as a bark park and a dog grooming station. It also has a dog walker and groomer on site.

Its not like a make-or-break deal, said Adam Schaller, a leasing agent at the building, which held its grand opening at the end of June. Its just an extra perk.

Schaller said a little under half of the apartments had been leased so far and around 35% are occupied. He estimated that about one-quarter of the residents own pets.

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More than 70% of apartment renters own pets, survey finds

Man in $6 million arson case wants police interview dismissed

By Michelle L. Price, Associated Press

August 11th, 2014 @ 9:44pm

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

Scott G. Winterton/Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY A federal judge will decide in the next month whether to throw out a police interview during which a Utah electrician admitted to setting an unfinished apartment building on fire.

Dustin Bowman, 34, of Bountiful, was not informed of his Miranda rights when meeting with federal investigators days after the Feb. 9 blaze, his defense attorney argued in court Monday.

The Salt Lake fire caused an estimated $6 million in damage.

Attorney Jamie Zenger said Bowman was intimidated by officers and indicated he didn't want to accompany them to the site of the fire or to a law enforcement building afterward, where he was interviewed for four hours.

She argued the interview, including Bowman's admission to starting the fire, should be suppressed.

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Man in $6 million arson case wants police interview dismissed

CTV Montreal Published Thursday, August 14, 2014 8:15AM EDT Last Updated Thursday, August 14, 2014 8:23AM EDT

One block of Cartier St. is closed to traffic Thursday because of fears a building will collapse.

According to firefighters residents of an apartment building called 9-1-1 at 5 a.m. because they heard strange noises and noticed new cracks in their walls.

A scaffolding has been set up in a passageway that runs through the building, and there are bricks and other items on the ground.

Firefighters said it appears the construction work through the tunnel, which leads to the building's courtyard, was not done correctly.

Emergency officials evacuated the building and shut down Cartier St. from Ontario St. to Sherbrooke St.

The Red Cross is providing temporary shelter for the six families that will not be allowed to return home until an engineer from the city of Montreal certifies the building is safe.

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Street closed due to fears of building collapse

Albany

The city's once-gritty industrial corridor along Broadway may be shaping up as the next place in the Capital Region to find apartments in sturdy century-old commercial buildings that were built to last.

Plans involving apartment conversions at the century-old former Rodgers Liquor Co. building at 960 Broadway and the massive former Albany International headquarters, a few blocks north at 1373 Broadway, are both set to come before Albany city planners later this month.

Laura Ryder, an architect with Troy Architectural Program, said plans for the four-story brick former liquor warehouse call for 30 apartments and a restaurant. The 44,744-square-foot building is among five historic buildings in the region that were targeted by the Preservation League of New York under its Industrial Heritage Reuse Project, she said.

"The league will leverage the momentum of the latest industrial development boom computer chip fabrication within a 40-mile radius of GlobalFoundries' Fab 8 plant in Saratoga County," said league President Jay DiLorenzo, who announced the project last month at the Rodgers building. "Through this effort, we hope owners of historic industrial buildings and elected and appointed officials will begin to see these structures as developable assets instead of liabilities."

Other buildings in the project include the Sanford Clock Tower Building, 37 Prospect St., Amsterdam; Mooradian's Building, 599 River St., Troy; Lindy's Hardware, 285 2nd St., Troy; and the former Grossman's Bargain Outlet, 1410 Erie Boulevard, Schenectady.

The project provides building owners with a schematic reuse plan; code evaluation; cost estimate; list of funding assistance; and outline of approvals required.

The Rodgers building, built around 1910 as a parts warehouse for International Harvester, said Ryder, has been vacant for some two decades. The property is zoned for light industrial use, and would require a zoning variance for the apartment project to be allowed, she added.

It is premature to describe the type of apartments and restaurant envisioned by building co-owner Bill Barber, said Ryder. "We are just now getting started with the project," she said. She said Barber sees encouragement in development farther south on Broadway in a strip of nightspots anchored by Wolff's Biergarten.

To the north at the 400,000 square-foot Albany International site, developer Uri Kaufman is planning an apartment complex called Harmony Primalofts.

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New plans for old sites

The massive fire that destroyed a Far East Side apartment building under construction and sent up a cloud of smoke that could be seen across Madison on Friday caused between $3.5 million and $5 million in damages, authorities said Monday.

City, state and federal investigators are now trying to find out how the blaze started, and on Monday asked the public to send in photos of the fire in its early stages, hoping they could provide some clues.

About two dozen agents and specialists from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives National Response Team have been brought in to investigate the fire.

The four-story building, under construction on the 500 block of Apollo Way, was the site of a planned 105-unit apartment building in the Grandview Commons subdivision. No one was hurt in the blaze.

An official with FMI Development, the company building the apartments, said in a statement that the company would work with authorities in the investigation.

We look forward to rebuilding in the near future, said Dan Schmidt, a managing member of the company.

The blaze began around 7:30 p.m. Friday, radiating intense heat throughout the neighborhood as firefighters quickly took a defensive approach to containing it.

Smoke was visible Friday evening from Downtown across Lake Monona, and ash and debris scattered over several miles.

On Monday, rippled vinyl siding on houses that faced the former construction site were a testament to the heat the fire generated. Much of the building had been leveled, leaving little but an elevator shaft and a partially charred section standing.

Madison fire and police officials, along with the State Fire Marshalls Office, requested the ATFs help with the investigation, authorities said.

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ATF: Grandview Commons fire caused up to $5M in damages

Gabriel Lipsky of Rehab Builders talks about the value of restoring historic buildings for future use. The former Mesic Hardware store and George Washington School in southeast Newport News are being renovated and repurposed as Jefferson Brookville Apartm

NEWPORT NEWS Three historic buildings on lower Jefferson Avenue are getting a second life as apartment buildings, as the city continues its effort to revitalize the area.

The former Mesic Hardware store on Jefferson Avenue, a school built in 1899 and the 100-year-old Roam building, along with two new buildings, will soon be home to 64 new downtown apartments.

The Roam building, at the corner of Jefferson Avenue and 28th Street, now called the Lofts on Jefferson, opened about two months ago with 14 one-bedroom units. All but two are now occupied one that is wheelchair-accessible. Workers from MGT Construction, of Richmond, gutted and reconstructed all three floors of the building and repalced the roof, while preserving the brick exterior.

Down the street, the Mesic Hardware building is being transformed into five apartments that connect to a newly constructed building. Another detached apartment building was also built on the same side of Jefferson, across from 26th street. The 42 units should be available for occupancy in October, said Karen Wilds, executive director of the Newport News Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

About two blocks away at 815 28th Street, the finishing touches are being put on the old George Washington School. The two-story brick school, built in 1899, once housed students in grades 4-6. Now, the building's classrooms are converted into eight one-bedroom apartments, which should be ready for occupancy by the end of the month, Wilds said.

The school sits on a quiet residential street near about a dozen new homes the RHA has built as part of its program for first-time home buyers.

The school, along with Mesic Hardware and the two new buildings, will be part of a development called Jefferson Brookville Apartments; residents can access the shared amenities in the Mesic building's first-floor community room, including an indoor playground.

Both Mesic Hardware and school buildings retain their unique characters through the original ceilings, stairways and front doors, said Amanda Adams, an associate with North Carolina-based CJMW Architecture and the site's project manager.

The firm's goal with Jefferson Brookville was to restore the Jefferson corridor as a living model of an active, truly urban neighborhood as it once was, Adams said a mission the city has been trying to accomplish for years.

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Newport News' lower Jefferson historic building makeovers nearly complete | With Video & Photo Gallery

(Lennie Mahler | The Salt Lake Tribune) Firefighters battle a four-alarm fire near downtown Salt Lake City, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2014.

Courts But prosecutor says man accused of arson volunteered to cooperate.

The alleged confession of the man accused of starting a fire that caused $6 million in damage to a Salt Lake City apartment building that was under construction should be tossed out of court, his attorney argued Monday.

The attorney for Dustin Jay Bowman told a U.S. District Court judge on Monday that during an interview with investigators, Bowman was not adequately informed of his rights and was coerced into confessing that he started the Feb. 9 fire that burned the 64,000-square-foot project at 550 E. 500 South in Salt Lake City.

Jaime Zenger, the court-appointed attorney for Bowman, said the admitted drug addict was intimidated by the investigators during two interviews and felt he was not being allowed to leave the Salt Lake City Public Safety Building. An agent also lied to Bowman about having a number of informants who named him as the suspect, she said.

"This entire interview was coerced," Zenger said in a hearing before Judge Ted Stewart.

Bowman confessed to local and federal investigators that he had smoked spice and then started the four-alarm fire that sent flames and smoke billowing into the night sky, according to court filings. He was arrested and charged with arson after the alleged confession.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Vincent admitted that Bowman was not adequately informed of his rights, known as a Miranda warning, by a local fire investigator who was questioning the electrician. But Vincent told Stewart there were other factors to consider, including that Bowman had contacted investigators himself and offered to talk to them.

"Over and over he said, Im here for you guys and I want to help, " said Vincent, who said Bowman was provided a written Miranda warning.

Stewart said he would take the arguments under advisement and issue a decision soon.

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Confession in massive Utah fire should be tossed, attorney says

MADISON, Wis. -

An estimate of damage caused by east Madison building fire was not yet available Saturday but the fire remained in control as firefighters remained at the scene overnight, officials said.

Madison Fire Department spokeswoman Lori Wirth said crews had stayed watch overnight to battle hot spots at the site where an apartment building under construction on Apollo Way caught fire Friday night.

The fire was initially reported by drivers on Interstate 90 who saw smoke and flames at about 7:30 p.m., Wirth said.

Firefighters en route to the site saw smoke and flames come from the back side of the building on the third and fourth floors from a half mile away, according to a release.

Heat from the fire caused fire crews to move back from the building, as heat was melting plastic on the fire engine and breaking window glass.

"Because the building was under construction with no occupants ... crews adopted a defensive strategy to protect the occupied dwellings, Wirth said.

Heat from the fire caused damage to houses nearby, melting siding and cracking windows. Firefighters hosed the buildings with water to cool them and prevent structural damage, according to the fire department.

The blaze was visible from miles away and falling debris caused spot fires across the interstate. The 911 center continued to receive reports of intense heat, heavy smoke, falling debris and grass fires along the interstate and areas of the east side up to an hour after the initial call.

Crews had the fire under control by 9:37 p.m. but remained on Apollo Way to maintain control. Pallets of building materials across the estimated two-acre fire continued to smolder Saturday, fire officials said.

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Investigators ask for public's pictures, videos of massive fire