The Champaign Fire Department responded to a fire on the balcony of a residential apartment building at 303 E. Green Street Thursday afternoon.
Jeremy Mitchell, CFD’s deputy fire marshal, said the department was called at 3:37 p.m. for a reported fire. CFD did not report any injuries in the fire.
“Upon arrival, we found a small balcony fire contained to the outside of the building,” Mitchell said. “We were able to make a fire attack from the street using a large diameter attack line.”
Firefighters gained access to the top-floor balcony with a key from the occupant and put out the fire with fire extinguishers. Mitchell said there was damage to decking material and rubber membrane on the roof.
“(It) looks like it was probably discarded smoking materials that caused the fire,” Mitchell said. “With it being a little bit windy, a little bit dry today, it was just the right mix to have a small fire.”
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The University’s Division of Public Safety sent an Illini-Alert to students, staff and faculty members at 3:46 p.m., notifying them of the fire.
Celia Manders, a graduate student studying library sciences, lives in the building where the fire occurred. She saw the Illini-Alert while in her apartment and realized she needed to evacuate.
“I didn’t hear, see or smell anything,” Manders said. “We didn’t hear any of the alarms go off, so they must have called pretty quickly.”
Another Illini-Alert was sent at 3:51 p.m. announcing the fire had been extinguished, and a final one was sent at 4:19 p.m., relaying that the emergency had ended.
“We’re just trying to remind people, be mindful if you’re having a recreational fire, if you’re stepping outside for a smoke,” Mitchell said. “Just remember that conditions are right where you could accidentally cause an outside fire right now.”
