By Phil Anderson
Topeka Capital Journal – December 5, 2013
Topeka fire crews put out a small fire early Thursday in an apartment complex on the city’s south side.
The incident was reported shortly before 5 a.m., when smoke was found inside a vacant second-floor unit at the Park South apartment complex, near S.W. 37th and Park South Drive.
Firefighters were working to get smoke out of at least one apartment at the complex as of 6 a.m.
Topeka Fire Investigator Rusty Vollentine said the fire more likely than not was accidental in nature, related to the mechanical or electrical malfunction of a furnace inside the unit.
At least one resident of a nearby unit left his apartment while fire crews investigated the blaze and ventilated the structure of smoke. The individual was allowed to take refuge from the 14-degree temperature inside a fire department sport utility vehicle as crews worked inside the apartment.
An estimated dollar loss wasn’t available late Thursday morning.
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