Sprinklers help contain fire in Sequim apartment complex

A sprinkler system inside Elk Creek Apartments, 90 S. Rhodefer Road, helped extinguish a fire inside a second floor apartment on Monday evening, reports Clallam County Fire District 3 officials.

A little before 7 p.m. on Sept. 21, firefighters responded to a tenant reporting flames inside an apartment while an adjacent neighbor also reported it filling with smoke.

Firefighters said they saw smoke coming from the second story window, and audible fire alarms alerted the complex to evacuate.

Elk Creek’s sprinkler system contained the fire to a single room, fire officials report, and firefighters’ initial attack on the fire stopped the fire entirely a short time later.

Smoke damage was contained to the initial unit but water damage was reported in that unit and the one below it on the bottom floor.

No injuries were reported and the Olympic Peninsula Chapter of the American Red Cross came to assist the displaced tenants.

Assistant Fire Chief Dan Orr said Tuesday the estimated damage is $100,00 mostly from smoke.

Cause of the fire was accidental, he said, and that there was a large volume of belongings in the apartment.

Five people were displaced due to the fire, two in the main apartment and a family of three below.

“The sprinkler did a good job of containing the fire,” Orr said.

More than 20 personnel from four fire stations responded to the scene with five fire engines, one rescue truck, one medic unit, and an aid unit.

Olympic Ambulance and Sequim Police Department also responded to the scene.