Apartment Building, Residential Duluth, MN – Sprinkler system activates in response to apartment balcony fire January 3, 2017 viking210 A small balcony fire at a Duluth complex led to damage in three apartments on Friday. Gwinnett County firefighters were called to the Bridgewater Apartments complex, at 1500 Ridge Brook Trail, at 2:16 p.m. on a report of an apartment fire. When they got to the complex, smoke led to the balcony of a third-floor apartment where they found a smoldering fire in a charcoal meat smoker.“ The fire was contained to the outer-decking material of the balcony and sent heat and smoke inside the apartment unit,” Gwinnett Fire Capt. Tommy Rutledge said. “A sprinkler activated inside the apartment due to radiant heat.” No one was injured by the fire, but the balcony had minor damage and the sprinkler caused residual water damage in the apartment, as well as two other apartments directly beneath it, Rutledge said. He said the complex’s maintenance personnel tried to put out the fire with portable fire extinguishers before firefighters arrived. Firefighters found the fire and got it under control by 2:34 p.m., about 11 minutes after they arrived.
