First responders said there were no injuries among residents, staff or emergency service workers in an apartment fire at Babcock Place Wednesday afternoon.
Firefighters were dispatched around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday to Babcock Place, 1700 Massachusetts St. in downtown Lawrence. It is a seven-floor, 120-unit apartment building for people ages 50 and up. It is operated by the Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority.
Division Chief Justin Temple with Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical’s Operations Division said investigators were still looking into the cause of the fire. He said the fire originated in a single apartment and was controlled by a single sprinkler head in that apartment.
Some Babcock residents had been evacuated. By the time reporters arrived after 1 p.m., everyone had the all clear to go back inside, with the exception of the resident in the apartment that had the fire. It’s possible that person will be displaced, but Temple said they wouldn’t know until after the investigation.
Jerrad Lewis, vice president of property operations with LDCHA, said he was proud of the first responders who arrived quickly and Babcock staff.
“Our staff that was on site did a significant job with what we could do to isolate the situation,” Lewis said. “So I’m just proud of how it’s turned out for us so far.”
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