7 Dallas FFs hospitalized after seven-alarm fire

Seven firefighters were hospitalized Monday evening in a rare seven-alarm fire at a Far North Dallas apartment complex that is under construction. At the fire’s peak, 140 firefighters were at the scene. The fire continued to burn this morning, Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman Jason Evans said.

Three of the firefighters were injured when a floor collapsed, Evans said. The cause of the other injuries was undisclosed. None were considered life-threatening.

The fire began about 5:45 p.m. in electrical meters outside the Gramercy on the Park Apartments, at the southeast corner of the Dallas North Tollway and George Bush Turnpike.

Evans said the fire was hidden in the walls and floor space, making it hard to determine whether the fire had been extinguished. It was because of that uncertainty that the fire was elevated to seven alarms.

The cause of the fire had not been officially determined today, but it was thought to be electrical.
By Mark Norris in The Dallas Morning News
Video report from WFAA News in Dallas

______________________________________
Dallas fire investigators believe an electrical short-circuit triggered the seven-alarm fire at a far North Dallas apartment complex Monday night that resulted in injury to seven firefighters.

About 140 personnel from across Dallas worekd to get the fire under control at Gramercy on the Park, a complex still under construction in the 4800 block of Gramercy Oaks Drive at Pear Ridge.

They were still dousing hot spots at noon Tuesday.

When firefighters initially arrived at the scene just before 6 p.m. Monday, electrical boxes were shooting off sparks, so they pulled all firefighters out.

“We saw when the fire started,” said Tony Tapia, a painter who has spent the last seven months working on the project. “There was nothing we could do.”

Tapia and other workers escaped unhurt.

While the fire could not be seen from the outside, it was growing inside the building’s walls. Exhaustion led firefighters to be rotated frequently.

At one point, two walls partially collapsed.

“There were some loose rocks that did collapse, but it wasn’t a complete collapse,” said Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman Jason Evans.

Evans said he doesn’t believe the injuries were a result of the collapse. He said the firefighters appeared to be in stable condition. All had been released from the hospital by midday Tuesday

“When you have to go inside and breach ceilings, breach walls, it wears firefighters out twice as fast,” he said.

Dallas-Fire Rescue used thermal imaging to try and find the hot spots.

There were sprinklers set up in parts of the building, but not yet throughout the building as a whole. As of 10:30 p.m., the fire remained at seven alarms.

The preliminary indication from investigators is that the fire started in an electrical transformer and some meter panels on the first floor of the building.

There were no tenants in the building that burned, which had been about 65 percent complete.

WFAA-TV