Electrical fire displaces Trail Ridge residents

CEDAR RAPIDS – All 20 residents of Trail Ridge Apartments have been displaced after an electrical fire Wednesday afternoon drove them from the building.

Jerri Ann Davis, 27, said she was sitting in her 5-year-old son's bedroom on the first floor of the apartment at 1611 Center Point Rd. NE when she spotted “tons of smoke” pouring through a ceiling vent, and called 911.

Davis' smoke detector was the lone one sounding in the building, so she alerted several other residents in the building, she said.

Firefighters arrived shortly after 5:00 p.m. to find smoke coming from an outdoor electrical panel, and eight meters crackling, said Greg Buelow, Cedar Rapids Fire Deportment spokesperson.

Firefighters cut power to the building, stripped a section of siding and contained the fire, Buelow said.

Buelow said the building saw little structural damage, but all of its residents will displaced as they await power to be restored.