Box On Cooktop Ignites Apartment Fire In Franklin City

Press release from the City of Franklin:

March 23, 2021

Franklin, TN – An apartment fire this morning appeared to have been caused by a moving box placed on a range that was inadvertently left on, according to Franklin Fire Marshal Andy King.

King said the fire started in a fourth-floor unit of the IMT at the Galleria apartments. The Franklin Fire Department was dispatched at 9:49 AM to the four-story, 361-unit apartment building at 427 Nichol Mill Ln., along with the Brentwood Fire and Rescue Department for automatic aid.

According to King, the occupants, who were in the process of moving out of the apartment, were outside loading items into their moving truck when the fire ignited.

King said a stovetop burner that was accidentally left on caused a cardboard box that had been placed on or beside it to catch fire. The residents discovered the blaze when they returned. They tried unsuccessfully to put it out with an extinguisher, then evacuated. A single fire sprinkler head activated and extinguished the fire prior to the fire departments’ arrival.

King said that thanks to the automatic fire sprinkler system, only four apartments sustained damage, estimated at $25,000. No one was injured.

This press release was produced by the City of Franklin. The views expressed here are the author’s own.