At 01:52 a.m. on Saturday, May 24, 2014 the Fitchburg Fire Department received a pre-alert from the Dane County 911 Center for a possible structure fire. A full still alarm for a structure fire at 1104 Whispering Pines Way was paged out by the Dane County 911 Center at 01:54 a.m.
First arriving fire companies reported smoke and fire visible on a second floor balcony at the southwest corner of a two-story multi-family residential structure (8 individual dwelling units within the building) and went into an offensive mode of fire attack.
The fire was knocked down at 02:19 a.m. and declared under control at 03:07 a.m. after primary and secondary searches of all dwelling units had been completed and salvage/overhaul operations were in effect.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but the fire is not considered to be suspicious in nature.
Madison Metro provided a bus for use as temporary shelter by displaced building residents. Representatives of the American Red Cross also responded to the fire scene and worked with the residents to secure alternative housing and meet their individual after fire needs.
All dwelling units are expected to be uninhabitable for at least 24 hours while electrical power to the building is restored and until an inspection of the building’s structural components is completed.
Fitchburg was assisted by an automatic aid response from the Town of Madison fire department and FitchRona EMS. Additional mutual aid units were provided by the Oregon Fire Protection District and City of Verona fire department.