Apartment fire causes water line to melt, damages five apartments

An apartment fire Thursday evening forced several people of a Lower Allen apartment complex.

The fire occurred in the 2900 block of Westbury Court at the Society Hill Apartments at 828 p.m.

Fire crews arrived on scene to find smoke in the third floor apartment and water running out of the door.

No one was home when the fire started, and when the resident returned the second floor tenant was banging on her door. When they opened the door, they encountered heavy smoke.

Firefighters arrived and rescued one of the tenant’s dogs from the home. The fire was extinguished when the water supply line in the apartment ruptured.

An investigation revealed that the fire started when there was an electrical arc in the water heater, which ignited several items in the mechanical closet.

The tenant of the apartment damaged by the fire and smoke has relocated with relatives. Four other apartments were damaged by water from the melted supply line. Those residents relocated within the apartment complex.