Eighteen residents of a large apartment complex building are displaced due to water damage to multiple floors after a dryer fire Monday night. The Bridgewater Fire Department responded to Axis at Lakeshore, which is off of Pleasant Street (Route 104), about 11:10 p.m. after receiving a fire alarm activation at the station, then a subsequent 911 call.

“There was a fire in a dryer which was in a laundry room in an apartment on the fifth floor,” Chief Thomas Levy told The Enterprise. When firefighters arrived, there was heavy smoke on the fifth floor of the building, which has six floors. Although there was still an active fire inside the dryer when firefighters arrived, the sprinkler system was keeping it from spreading throughout the apartment.

“Within 20 minutes, they knocked the rest of the fire down,” Levy said. About 150 people had to evacuate the apartment building. Although there was smoke and water damage to all floors but the sixth, most of the residents were allowed back in. Levy said about 18 people who live in the apartments on each floor directly below the unit where the fire occurred were displaced. They either found places to stay overnight or were put in a nearby hotel by management.

“The fire was contained to that one apartment, but we had smoke in the hallway and water damage on all five floors underneath where the fire occurred due to sprinkler activation,” Levy said. Investigators are still working to determine what caused the fire inside the dryer. The fire chief said neither the lint trap or lint buildup in the duct work are initially believed to be the cause.

“The investigation is pointing toward the interior of the dryer, which was pretty melted,” Levy said. “We’re not sure if it was a mechanical failure, if it was overloaded or there might have been something inside the clothing.”

The chief said cooperation from maintenance staff and management helped firefighters quickly get into the affected apartment. Levy said they will investigate the cause further and work with management to make sure other dryers aren’t in danger of catching fire. This fire comes after there were two dryer fires in the region about a week apart in late September – one in East Bridgewater and the other in Whitman.

“These residents were home, but we would never advise leaving a dryer or any electrical appliances unattended,” Levy said. The chief estimated the damage caused by the fire to be about $75,000. The unit where the fire occurred sustained heavy water damage and there were ceiling collapses on two upper floors due to the water.

“The sprinkler system activated the proper way, the fire alarm activated and the smoke detectors were working,” Levy said. “It’s unfortunate the water damage that was sustained, but that’s out of our control.”