A fire at a south Bethlehem apartment complex last week was caused by “improperly discarded smoking materials,” authorities have confirmed.
The fire at the Five 10 Flats last Friday originated on the building’s rooftop deck, Craig Baer, Bethlehem’s deputy chief and fire marshal, said Thursday. The blaze, which caused extensive damage to the building, extended into the sixth floor elevator lobby and ignited a large portion of the roof before it could be extinguished, according to a news release.
Former Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan, business development manager for Peron Development — which owns and manages the property — said late Friday that building managers uncovered security footage showing a resident smoking on a rooftop deck and putting out a cigarette butt in a planter.
The building, a mix of first-floor retail shops and 95 apartments at 510 E. 3rd St., was quickly evacuated and no one was injured, but residents are displaced until repairs are done, which building inspector Mike Simonson said this week could take “a while.”
It took 87 firefighters from six regional departments to battle the four-alarm blaze, city officials said. Heavy winds that day caused the fire to spread rapidly even though firefighters responded within 90 seconds.
