Apartment Building, Residential

Maitland, FL – Sprinkler system helps put out apartment fire caused by charging drone battery

A drone battery charging inside a Maitland apartment caused a fire to erupt early Sunday morning, according to Maitland Fire Rescue.

The fire happened around 1 a.m. inside one of the units at the Arbors at Maitland Summit apartments.

Fire officials say the woman inside the apartment tried to put out the fire with a fire extinguisher, but the fire grew, causing the sprinkler system to go off.

According to fire officials, the drone battery was left unattended while it was charging.

“They put it on the charger, they went to sleep,” said Assistant Fire Chief Van Camp. “Someone woke up from the smell of smoke, went out, saw the batter was on fire, tried to put it out and it kept growing on them.”

Only one building at the apartment complex was evacuated. Those residents have since been allowed back into their apartments.

No injuries were reported.

The unit where the fire started sustained water damage, according to fire officials.