Manhattan — Authorities are working to determine the cause of a fire at an apartment building in Manhattan.
Just after 5 p.m. on Sunday evening, the Manhattan Fire Department was dispatched to 711 Allison Avenue, for a report of a structure fire, Deputy Chief Ryan Almes.
Upon arrival, crews found a three-story apartment building with heavy fire on the balconies of the second and third floors. Riley County Police Department officers had notified the occupants of the building, who were all out of the building prior to our arrival. Crews searched the building and extinguished the fire within 25 minutes. Firefighters removed two dogs and four cats from the building unharmed.
The building is a 3-story, 12-unit, apartment building. Five of the buildings' units were occupied, and seven were vacant. Two of the occupied units received significant fire damage. All occupants of the building were displaced for the night. Loss is estimated at $35,000 to contents and $100,000 to the structure. The owner is listed as Francis Properties L.L.C., with the resident agent being listed as Patrick Lee of St. George, Kansas. The fire is under investigation at this time, but preliminary reports suggest the fire was accidental.
The same building suffered a fire in the early morning hours of July 30, 2019, on the third floor. That fire, which caused an estimated $32,000 in damage, was determined to be accidental caused by improper disposal of smoking materials.