Alarms at Cedar Rapids apartment didn't activate for dryer fire

UPDATE: Fire started inside a dryer at an apartment building early Monday morning, forcing the evacuation of 22 residents.

Crews responded just before 1 a.m. to 1640 F Ave. NW when Oneida Thomas, 40, called 911 to report smoke in the hallways. Before they arrived, Thomas pounded on apartment doors to alert residents of the potential fire, officials said.

Fire Department spokesman Greg Buelow said smoke was starting to fill the first and second floors of the three-story, 12-unit building when the first crew arrived. Firefighters went door-to-door to make sure everyone was outside.

They soon found a commercial dryer in the laundry room on the main floor that had overheated. They took burning laundry out and doused it with water outside, Buelow said.

No one was injured. The residents were allowed to go back inside after about an hour.

Buelow said the smoke alarms in the hallway did not activate. Damage was mostly confined to the dryer. There was light smoke damage throughout the first and second floors, Buelow said.

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