Des Moines Apartment Fire Started By Woman Lighting Insect on Fire
The Des Moines Police said they think they've figured out what started an apartment fire yesterday morning.
Police say a fire broke out in an apartment unit at Gray's Lake Apartments on Fleur Drive after an occupant "attempted to light a bug on fire on a futon."
The apartment "lit up like a tinderbox," according to police.
Multiple people who live in the apartment complex are displaced after the fire.
Resident Shelly Spieker was able to go back into the building around 3:30am to get some belongings, according to KCCI, but was devastated when she saw her apartment.
She told KCCI that the ceiling had collapsed in, and everything was covered in debris and soaked in water.
"It looks like a teddy bear stuffing factory exploded everywhere and then they soaked it in an Olympic sized pool. I don't know, it's so bad," Spieker told the station.
No injuries were reported after the fire, but with the amount of smoke that filled the building, three units in addition to the four damaged units are being relocated.
The fire began shortly after midnight, which was when Spieker got the call at work that her home was burning.
"The building on fire and I could not have imagined those would be the words coming out of his mouth," Spieker said. "He called me back five minutes later and he's like it's coming from your apartment and I'm like, 'what do you mean it's coming from my apartment, I haven't even been up there, what's going on.'"
Red Cross has set up those affected with hotel rooms until they can find another place to stay.
Read more at KCCI
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