Fires at Bellevue apartment complex were caused by careless smokers, state fire marshal says
By Emily Nitcher / World-Herald staff writer
Apartment fire injures 3, including firefighter
Omaha World-Herald
Two separate fires at a Bellevue apartment complex in less than a week started the same way, officials said Friday.
The fires at the Gateway Park Apartments in the 300 block of Fort Crook Road South were both started by careless disposal of smoking materials, according to Ray Nance, a spokesman for the Nebraska State Fire Marshal’s Office.
A fire was reported about 4 p.m. Tuesday in the three-story complex with 24 apartments. Four people, including a Bellevue firefighter, were taken to the hospital as firefighters worked to control the blaze.
The fire caused $1 million in damage to the building and $250,000 in damage to its contents, according to the Bellevue Fire Department. The apartment building has been deemed unsafe for inhabitants.
On July 22, a fire started on the third-floor balcony of a different apartment in the same building, but it caused much less damage.
Nance said smoking materials should be discarded in a metal container and ashes should be thoroughly wet down.
Fires can also be started when people put cigarettes out in potted plants, Nance said. Potting soil has ingredients that are flammable and have been known to start fires.
“Things happen like that,” Nance said. “People do need to be cautious and careful out there.”