Fire damages Englewood apartment; fire chief credits sprinklers with containing blaze

ENGLEWOOD Firefighters battled a two-alarm fire at the Towne Center apartment complex on Friday evening, with the citys fire chief crediting the buildings sprinkler system with containing the blaze to one room and preventing more extensive damage.

The fire was caused by a candle that fell over in a living room about 5:40 p.m. in an apartment on the fourth-floor of the 4-story complex and led to the temporary evacuation of about 150 people, said city Fire Chief Gerald Marion. It was under control about 30 minutes later, he said, adding that no one was injured and the fires cause was determined to be accidental.

Marion said the building, comprising two connected towers, is made of the same lightweight construction as the Avalon apartment complex in Edgewater where about hundreds of people were displaced indefinitely last week when one of its two buildings was destroyed by fire despite the presence of a sprinkler system. The Englewood complexs robust sprinkler system did most of the work of putting out Fridays fire, the chief said.

Had there not been a sprinkler, we would have potentially seen something similar to Edgewater, Marion said.

He said that owners of the Towne Center, which has more than 180 units, omn Friday night began repairing damage to the apartment where the fire occurred. The family that resides there is staying elsewhere during repairs, he said. Other residents were allowed to return to their apartments about an hour after the fire began.

Email: koloff@northjersey.com

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Fire damages Englewood apartment; fire chief credits sprinklers with containing blaze