At 1:34 AM on Wednesday, April 15th, 2015, the Bismarck Fire Department responded to a report of a fire in a shop at 3521 Franklin Avenue. Upon arrival, firefighters found heavy smoke and flames showing from one of the rented units in the building, with smoke coming from the eaves of the rest of the building. Fire was also extending through a roof vent above the involved unit, indicating involvement of the attic area of the building. Firefighters made an exterior attack directly into the burning unit, and were able to extinguish the bulk of the fire. Access was gained to the attic area from another unit, and crews continued working on extinguishing the smoldering insulation and rafters.
Fire crews gained control of the fire at approximately 2:20 AM, and remained on scene until 7:00 AM.
The cause of the fire appears to have been accidental. The tenant of the involved unit was apparently welding on a car, and some cloth items nearby were ignited. He was not able to extinguish it himself and evacuated the building.
There were no injuries, and the building was turned over to the owner and tenants this morning. Preliminary fire loss estimate to the building and contents is $150,000. The structure, along with the contents of all of the other units in the building was able to be saved.