Off-campus apartment fire causes evacuation

A fire in the Madison Terrace apartment complex forced the evacuation of about 16 occupants, four of whom are JMU students, according to the Harrisonburg Fire Department.

A phone call reporting smoke in the building was received Tuesday at 3:16 a.m. to a unit at 743 Walnut Lane, according to Fire Chief Larry Shifflet. "We found a moderate smoke condition in the corridor of the building," he said.

The fire, which was located in the basement in a storage/utility room, began when a circular florescent light fixture in the ceiling caught fire.

"The fire was extinguished very quickly once we found where it was," Shifflet said. "The fire was relatively small, but it created a great deal of smoke."

Smoke is usually the most dangerous part of a fire, he said.

Damage to the building is probably less than $5,000 and occupants were displaced for about an hour and a half, according to Shifflet.

- compiled from staff reports