URBANDALE, Iowa — A devastating fire Sunday morning has left everyone that lived in an Urbandale apartment building unable to go back inside their homes for the time being.
Everyone made it out the Ashford Ridge Apartments safely, but there were no working sprinklers.
"The city code did not require sprinklers when the buildings were built," Urbandale Fire Chief Jerry Holt said.
Local 5 has learned there were working smoke detectors.
"Everybody that lives in the building is impacted, severely impacted," Holt explained. "So much so that they won't even be able to go back in and go through their items."
Police and fire departments responded to the fire at complex in the 3600 block of Patricia, with the call coming in just before 11 a.m. Sunday.
Fire personnel were on the scene for most of the day.
Holt says the wind was gusting when the fire happened and caused the fire to spread to the attic. The damage is extensive, and fire crews say they may not find the cause of the fire.
Hubbell Realty, the owners of Ashford Ridge Apartments, sent a statement to Local 5 saying in part that "when the building is rebuilt it will be built in accordance with today's code requirements."
The Urbandale Fire Department says this is also a good reminder with Daylight Saving Time to change the batteries in your smoke detectors.
"We might be able to limit it down to an area or orgin, but to say this is the exact spot where it started and it started from 'X' ... that's very difficult in these situations," Holt said.