Stove, cabinets catch fire in Clark Lane apartment unit

COLUMBIA — Just before 5 p.m. on Monday, the Columbia Fire Department responded to a commercial structure fire at The Links Apartment Complex, apartment 202, 5109 Clark Lane, Battalion Chief Gary L. Warren Jr. said.

While Roger Kirsch and his son Zachery Kirsch were moving into the apartment, some boxes containing personal belongings had been unintentionally left on the apartment’s kitchen stove, atop a burner that was accidentally turned on, Warren said.

Zachery tried to extinguish the fire himself but evacuated the apartment and called the fire department when the smoke intensified. Within five minutes, firefighters arrived to find all occupants evacuated and the smoke detectors sounding, Warren said. Firefighters used a pressurized water extinguisher to put out the fire, which was active on the stove top and in the cabinets above.

Warren estimated the damage, including the stove, cabinets and smoke damage, to be around $3,500. There was no structural damage, and no one was injured.