Emergency vehicles were dispatched at 5:50 p.m. on Thursday to The Pointe apartments in Urbana. The call reported a “heavy fire” at the living community’s business and office building. According to the Urbana Fire Department, no one was seriously hurt.
An officer referred to the incident as a “working fire in the clubhouse on the bravo side” over METCAD just before 6 p.m.
Urbana Fire Department Chief Demond Dade told The Daily Illini that the fire was under control by 6:15 p.m. The fire started outside the building, and it eventually spread to the interior. First responders were required to force entry into the building by shattering the front door of the office and breaking through the roof.
Dade said all employees and tenants evacuated the building before the Urbana Fire Department’s arrival. While no one was hurt, he reported that one officer overheated slightly inside the building’s smaller attic space.
Due to the size of the building and winds of approximately 20 mph increasing the size of the fire, Dade said the situation escalated to a two-alarm fire. Emergency vehicles blocked off East Florida Avenue from South Philo Road to Adams Street.
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According to Dade, the cause of the fire is currently under investigation.
