How Common Are Fires in Apartment Complexes?

10/18/2021 (Permalink)

Fires at apartment complexes occur more often than most people think. In 2019, our team at SERVPRO of Dale City/Lake Ridge and SERVPRO of Woodbridge/Lorton was called out to an apartment complex fire in Dumfries, VA. Fortunately, no one was severely injured, but the entire building was impacted.  Each of the units had sustained damage from either the fire, smoke, or water.  Many tenants lost all or most of their personal contents. It took almost a year before the building was inhabitable again.

Most apartment complex fires can be attributed to the following five causes:  cooking, space heaters, electrical malfunction, arson, and appliances malfunctioning.

As in the case of the fire in Dumfries, most of these are easily preventable by adhering to the following fire safety tips:

• Never leave food cooking on the stove unattended, especially around children 
• Check twice to make certain the stove is turned off before leaving the kitchen
• Store a fire extinguisher in or nearby the kitchen
• Do not plug a space heater into a power strip. Only plug them directly into outlets
• Never overload power strips by plugging in several different small appliances 
• Only smoke in designated smoking areas and properly dispose of cigarettes
• Do not use appliances with frayed wires
• Contact the leasing office or maintenance team immediately if experiencing electrical issues

For more fire safety tips, please visit the National Fire Protection Association at nfpa.org.