Firefighters respond to small fire at UI apartment

Residents of the University of Iowa owned Parklawn Apartment building were evacuated when an alarm went off around 11 a.m. after a small fire broke out in a kitchen area.

The Iowa City Fire Department responded to 447 N. Riverside Dr. to a report of an automatic alarm, and upon arrival there was smoke found in the hallway of the south wing of the building.

The first unit to arrive found the door to apartment S205 hot to the touch and black soot showing around the door. Crews entered the apartment to find a small kitchen fire that was quickly extinguished with less than one gallon of water from a water extinguisher, officials said.

No one was found in the apartment and ventilation efforts were made and surrounding units were investigated.

The building suffered only minimal damage but contents by one apartment sustained substantial smoke damage.

Clean up efforts were being made by the UI housing department, and assistance for the occupant of the damaged apartment are being made.

While the cost of damages is unknown at the time, no injuries were reported, and an investigation continues to discover the exact cause of the fire.