About a dozen Tucson House residents were displaced Monday evening after a large fire broke out on a 13th-floor balcony of the complex, firefighters said.
About 8 p.m., callers to 911 reported seeing flames on a patio at the public-housing high rise at 1501 N. Oracle Road, Tucson Fire said.
Crews were at the property within six minutes as the fire threatened to spread to other units.
There was no mass evacuation. Instead, TFD issued a “protect-in-place” order, as hallways were hot, smoky and had limited visibility.
A second alarm was called due to the need for additional fire crews to relieve fatigued workers and help with mop-up.
TFD said a few residents were evaluated for respiratory issues, but no one was transported for treatment.
About a dozen residents were displaced after a fire Monday night at Tucson House. No one was injured.
By Tuesday morning, nine of 14 displaced residents returned to their apartments, the city said in a news release.
Five residents stayed at a hotel until their apartments could be cleared of smoke or water damage.
The fire was mostly contained to one unit of the more than 400 in the tower.
Almost all the units will be able to be occupied within the next few days, the city release said.
The city’s Department of Housing and Community Development said it does not anticipate any structural damage from the fire , but a structural engineer is scheduled to inspect the affected units on Wednesday, the release said.
In 1979 the city acquired Tucson House and converted the building into public housing. It remains the city’s largest public housing complex, the release said.
The high-rise with 408 apartments on 16 floors is set to undergo a multi-year renovation beginning by the end of the year, the release said.
Two years ago, the city received a $50 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to reinvest in Tucson House. It also will transition from the traditional public housing program to a voucher-based system, the release said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
