Apartment Building, Residential Des Moines, IA – Sprinklers help knock down flames when fire breaks out in apartments above pizza parlor June 17, 2016 viking210 No injuries were reported after a fire forced the evacuation Wednesday night of the Elliott Apartments above Fong’s Pizza on Fourth Street downtown. Captain Mark Dooley of the Des Moines Fire Department said crews arrived around 10:30 p.m. to smoke and flames on the second floor of the six-story building and launched an “aggressive interior attack.” “The flames were knocked down some with the activated sprinkler system,” Dooley said, adding that it made the firefighters’ job a lot easier. Almost all of the residents were home at the time fire crews responded and all were evacuated by 11 p.m. At 12:15 a.m. Thursday, Dooley said crews were no longer actively working to put the fire out but were instead checking the building to make sure the fire didn’t spread. The heat was what was causing the most concern, Dooley said. When the fire started around 10:30 p.m., it was approximately 84 degrees in downtown Des Moines, according to the National Weather Service. “There are medic units here just for the care of the firefighters,” Dooley said. They brought in extra medical crews and supplies solely to assist the roughly 100 firefighters working inside the complex, making sure to check their temperatures and heart rates. No cause for the fire has been identified and the investigation continues. Dooley said Polk County’s emergency response teams helped residents find a place to stay for the night. Fourth Street, Walnut Street and parts of Court Avenue were reopened in time for Thursday morning traffic. Joe Swift, a resident on the fourth floor, said he was out of the building minutes after the fire alarm went off. He said the smoke got very thick in the stairwell when he reached the second floor, making it difficult to see. He commended the men and women of the Des Moines Fire Department, who were knocking on doors and assisting residents out of the building. “These guys do a great job, and the ladies too,” Swift said. “In old buildings like this, underneath all that carpeting is all wood. There’s lots to catch on to.” On Twitter, Fong’s promised to repay swift work by the fire department with free pizza.
