Garage fire, multiple small explosions prompt Arlington student apartment evacuation
Residents were evacuated before sunrise Friday from an Arlington apartment building marketed toward UT Arlington students after a vehicle fire started in the garage.
One man was taken to a hospital in unknown condition to be treated for burns, according to an Arlington Fire Department spokesperson. Multiple vehicles appeared to be damaged or destroyed at the complex at 848 W. Mitchell St.
Alarms at the 848 Mitchell apartments sounded around 4:15 a.m., followed by a loud explosion from the garage audible from units on the other side of the building. Multiple other explosions, from little pops to loud bangs, sounded from the garage for the next 30 minutes as the fire appeared to spread across parking spaces on the fourth floor of the garage.
The property management announced in text messages that residents, evacuated in the 20-degree weather, could return to their apartments at 5:25 a.m. 848 Mitchell notified residents around 6:15 a.m. that the fire department had cleared the scene and vehicles parked on the fourth and fifth floors of the garage could be moved. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, a department spokesperson said.
This story was originally published January 21, 2022 at 6:55 AM.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story included an incorrect address.