Smoke, water damage Patrick Henry building in fire [with video]

UPDATE July 29: Patrick Henry fire blamed on 'spontaneous combustion'

A rooftop air conditioning unit caught fire Thursday at the newly renovated Patrick Henry building in downtown Roanoke, sending residents and workers into the street and causing smoke and water damage. No one was hurt.

A maintenance worker doused the blaze with a fire extinguisher shortly after pulling an alarm at 12:47 p.m., officials said. The worker's action prevented flames from spreading into the 10-story building on Jefferson Street at Bullitt Avenue, Roanoke Fire-EMS Chief David Hoback said.

Smoke spread through seven floors of the building, and two apartments were damaged by the sprinkler system, Patrick Henry spokeswoman Lisa Uhl said. Two residents of the water-damaged dwellings will be relocated "for a day or two" for repairs, she said.

Fire investigators estimated damage at $60,000.

Roanoke developer Ed Walker finished a $20 million renovation to the 86-year-old landmark last month. In the past two weeks, tenants in some of the Patrick Henry's 132 apartments began moving in.

Firefighters used the building's intercom system to order about 50 residents and workers to evacuate. Some said they briefly confused the message with community announcements that the building management had been making over the intercom.

"I thought I smelled something, but at first I didn't think much of it," said Melissa Kollman, a student. She said she saw smoke in the hallway when she walked out of her eighth-floor apartment.

Black smoke billowed from the rooftop and could be seen from a half-mile away. Clumps of downtown workers gathered to watch from the street and nearby buildings.

Firefighters lugging compressed air tanks climbed the stairs to the rooftop four minutes after they arrived, Hoback said. They opened some apartment windows and used large fans to exhaust smoke for more than an hour after the blaze was out.

Thirty-five firefighters, using five engines and three ladder trucks, worked at the building for 62 minutes after the fire alarm was reported before declaring it under control, the fire department said.

"This is an unfortunate situation, but it was a good test," Uhl said, praising emergency responders for "their professional and quick response."

Residents were allowed to return to the building later in the afternoon.

The fire erupted in a rooftop ventilation unit that cools residential corridors, Uhl said. The unit will be replaced within two weeks.

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