The Brownwood Fire Department issued the following press release Monday morning:

The Brownwood Fire Department responded to a structure fire call at 9:58 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 4 at 2131 Indian Creek Drive, Apt. 1602. Upon arrival the fire had been contained by the fire sprinkler system. Firefighters performed a primary search and removed one dog and returned it to its owner. The apartment was ventilated and the apartment was checked for fire extension. One occupant was displaced and received assistance from Red Cross. There were no reported injuries. The structure sustained smoke, water, and fire damage and the apartment manager and maintenance staff were on scene to begin clean up of units unaffected by the fire.

Chief 9, Chief 92, Chief 93, Truck 9, Rescue 9, and Engine 92 responded to the scene with assistance from the Early Fire Department, Lifeguard Ambulance, Brownwood Police Department, and the Red Cross.

It took 10 minutes to extinguish the fire and units were on scene 1 hour and 10 minutes. The fire cause an estimated $25,000 worth of damage.

Just before Midnight Tuesday, Firefighters from the Porter and Houston Fire Departments were dispatched to reports of a fire on the first floor of a 3 story, 20 unit apartment building at the Marquis at Kingwood apartments on Kings Manor Drive in southeast Montgomery County. Porter Engine and Rescue 121 were on scene within minutes reporting smoke inside the building. The fire crews entered the building and quickly found the source of the smoke, a dryer that had caught fire in a utility room.

Fortunately, for the residents at the Marquis at Kingwood apartments, the building was equipped with both a fire alarm and a fire sprinkler system. In order to minimize the risk to residents, modern fire codes require fire sprinklers and alarms in multi-family residential buildings. While the building’s fire alarm system did its job and alerted residents to the growing fire, a single fire sprinkler located in the utility room activated from the heat escaping from the clothing burning in the dryer. The fire sprinkler contained the fire to the interior of the dryer, and upon their arrival, fire crews used a water-based fire extinguisher, further drenching the burning contents, before removing the dryer from the building. There were no injuries and fire damage was confined to the dryer itself.

Firefighters and the apartment’s maintenance crew then utilized a wet vac to remove the water and clean the utility room before turning the apartment back over to management. What started out as a potentially life-threatening fire in an apartment building full of sleeping residents, ended up as nothing more than minor smoke and water damage to a single room, thanks to the presence of the fire alarm and sprinkler systems and management’s commitment to maintaining those systems in working order.

The Montgomery County Fire Marshal’s Office reviews construction plans during the building process, insuring that all new and renovated buildings meet the life safety requirements found in the Montgomery County Fire Code. After they are built and occupied, MCFMO Fire Inspectors work closely with building occupants and management teams to protect the lives of our residents and the firefighters who would respond in the event of a fire.

Several residents at a College Station apartment complex were temporarily displaced after a fire Monday night.

A resident at the Woodlands of College Station complex on Harvey Mitchell Parkway called 911 around 8:30 p.m. after he heard a pop in his bedroom, according to a College Station Fire Department spokesman.

A fire started to spread into a bedroom wall, but the sprinkler system kept the flames from spreading until firefighters arrived.

The College Station Fire Department said an electric skateboard battery caused the fire.