At approximately 9:07 AM on Tuesday, January 29, the Central Dakota Communications Center received a report of a fire at an apartment on the 3000 block of East Rosser Avenue. The Bismarck Fire Department was dispatched to investigate. The first arriving fire crew reported a three story apartment building with nothing showing from the exterior. The fire crew established command, and made contact with Bismarck Police Department officers on scene who reported that the occupants had evacuated from the building, and that the fire apartment was on the third floor.
The fire crew went in to investigate and found a large amount of smoke and a small fire in the apartment. The fire crew extinguished the fire with a handheld fire extinguisher and a search of the apartment was conducted. The search turned up a dog and a litter of puppies, which were immediately removed from the apartment. The fire crew conducted an overhaul operation to find and extinguish any remaining smoldering materials. When the overhaul operation was complete the apartment was ventilated and a fire investigation was conducted.
Eight fire department apparatus and 18 firefighters were dispatched to the scene. Bismarck Police Department assisted with scene control, evacuating the building, and sheltering the occupants. Metro Area Ambulance was on scene to provide medical support. The dogs were collected by Bismarck Animal Control.
The renter of the apartment where the fire occurred, were not home at the time of the fire. There were no injuries to any of the building occupants. There were no injuries to first responders. There was moderate smoke damage to the interior of the effected apartment and fire damage was limited to the area of origin. The area of origin was identified in the living room area. The cause of the fire has been classified as accidental.