Approximately 50 people are searching for new homes today after a lightning strike reportedly sparked a fire at The Avenue at Polaris apartment complex in the Polaris area, as detailed by a WBNS report. Lt. Nick Davis of the Columbus Division of Fire described the incident occurring around 1 a.m. Wednesday morning, with the fire notably aggressive upon their arrival, blazing through the roof of the building and requiring an escalation to a second-alarm fire due to the size of the structure and the high risk to tenants.
While no civilians were harmed in the conflagration, three firefighters suffered exhaustion and required hospitalization in the fire's aftermath, a fact confirmed by ABC6 on their side of the coverage. The Red Cross has been mobilized, and they are now providing the necessary aid to those who've had their lives upheaved by this sudden blaze.
Unsettling questions arise amongst the residents of The Avenue at Polaris, with some telling NBC4i about the lack of smoke alarms sounding during the incident, which could have been potentially catastrophic in a different scenario, they only became recently aware of the danger when fire trucks appeared and the scent of smoke seeped in. Lt. Davis revealed to NBC4 that there will be an investigation into the building's adherence to code, noting that "If it was on the second floor, and the fire was above the smoke detectors, they probably weren’t able to detect the smoke, but our investigators are going to look at that, look at the code." indicating that how smoke detectors could fail to alert residents depending on the building's age and compliance with current safety legislation.
