No one hurt in fire at Gateway Gardens apartment building

Six dryer units were damaged but no one was injured in an early-morning fire near an apartment complex, authorities said.

Firefighters went to the Gateway Gardens apartment building at 2981 Sixth St. SW around 4:15 a.m. when a smell of smoke was reported at a nearby laundry building. The first crews who arrived found flames extending from a dryer to the ceiling in the laundry room.

About 20 dryers were in the room, stacked on top of one another. Greg Buelow, a spokesman for the Fire Department, said the fire started in one of the top units and spread to adjacent ones and one below it.

Crews used about 25 gallons of water to put out the fire. No one was injured.

Investigators determined that the fire involved mop heads and rags, Buelow said. He said spontaneous heating was likely the cause.

“The dryers do not have a cool-down cycle, so it creates an environment conducive to spontaneous heating, if the contents are bundled tightly together, damp and overheated,” Buelow said.

This most recent fire at Gateway Gardens comes about 11 months after a two-alarm blaze left 14 people displaced. The April 7, 2009 fire consumed the roof of the building at 3131 Sixth St. SW.