Thank you for visiting the Alachua County website. By clicking “Ok” you will be redirected to a non-County maintained website. Alachua County may not be responsible for the content at the site you are about to be linked to.
ALACHUA COUNTY, FL – The Alachua County Fire Rescue (ACFR) Department was dispatched at 7:55 p.m. last night to a reported building fire at the Bellamy Grand Apartments off SW 75th Street. The fire was in a three-story apartment building that contains 24 apartment units and is equipped with both automatic fire alarm and fire sprinkler systems. Fire units arrived to find a kitchen fire in a second floor apartment in the middle of the building that had been extinguished by the activation of two fire sprinklers heads inside the affected apartment.
The resident reported that she was cooking on the stovetop when grease ignited and quickly got out of control. She gathered her three children, all under the age of five, and immediately exited the building. ACFR Lt James Clifford reported that there was heavy smoke encountered inside the affected apartment. He also stated, “If the building had not had a fire sprinkler system we would have been working an active structure fire that may have involved multiple apartments.”
This was an unintentional fire where the appropriate systems were in place and the occupants did exactly what they were supposed to do. The result was no injuries and minimal damage to the fire apartment and the apartment below.
For more information, contact Alachua County Fire Marshal Mark Smith at 352-384-3101.
If you have a disability and need an accommodation in order to participate in a County program, service or public meeting, please contact the Alachua County Equal Opportunity Office at 352-374-5275 at least 2 business days prior to the event. TTY users please call 711 (Florida Relay Service).