Fire destroys nine garages at Urbana apartments

URBANA – A fire that destroyed a bank of garages at an Urbana apartment complex Saturday afternoon left several hundred thousand dollars' worth of damage in its wake.

Firefighters were called to the Fairlawn Village apartment complex in the 400 block of East Hollywood between Fairlawn and Michigan avenues east of Vine Street about 3:45 p.m.

Thick, black smoke could be seen for several miles as the intense flames consumed the mostly wooden structure. There were nine garages under one metal roof, each divided by walls and each with its own door.

Because of the fire's size and potential for spreading to apartment buildings to the south, Champaign firefighters were called to help.

"We haven't had a fire like this in a long time in Urbana," said Division Chief Tony Foster as he watched his colleagues attack the fire, which took about an hour to get under control.

AmerenIP had to be summoned to shut down power lines affected by the jumping flames. That took about an hour to accomplish.

Uncharacteristically warm November weather and the magnitude of the fire attracted scores of onlookers, who had to be cautioned to stay back.

Foster said the fire also burned a "very expensive fiber-optic line" from the nearby Comcast office, interrupting service to an undetermined amount of customers to the east of the office.

About 30 minutes after their arrival, firefighters decided to evacuate two buildings in the Michigan East apartment complex to the south of the burning garages as a precaution. There are 15 apartments in each of those buildings. Those residents were allowed to return to their homes about 5:30 p.m.

"We have to commend the firefighters here. What an incredible stop," Foster said, referring to keeping the fire from getting to the Michigan East buildings.

Firefighters used an aerial truck in the Michigan East parking lot to fight the fire from on high on its south side.

Two of the nine garages had vehicles in them, Foster said. Barr Real Estate owns the property, which is managed by Coldwell Banker. The owners have insurance for the structures, Foster said, but not the contents, which included belongings that Fairlawn Village renters had stored in the units.

Foster estimated damage to each garage at $80,000 for structure and contents, putting the total loss in the neighborhood of $720,000.

Foster said Coldwell Banker representatives were there Saturday night to assist the fire department with identifying the renters and what was lost.

Hours after the fire, investigators were searching for a cause, having brought in a light tower to assist.

"All we know is it started on west side of the structure," he said. The building sits east-west, with the entrances to the garages on the north.

Joining Urbana's four engines, ladder company and three command officers were three engines, a ladder company and two command officers from Champaign, including Champaign Fire Chief Doug Forsman.

Urbana Fire Chief Mike Dilley was on vacation, Foster said.

Among the Champaign firefighters there was Dave Withrow, a 17-year veteran of the department who quarterbacked its team to a win over Champaign police in a flag-football game that ended about an hour before the fire. The call cut short his celebration.

"No rest for the weary," said Withrow, a former West Virginia Tech football player who also played semi-pro football overseas.

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