Temple Apartment Building Evacuated Due to Burning Van

A fire that ignited in a carpet cleaning van forced the evacuation of a Temple apartment complex Wednesday evening.

A cleaning crew with Universal Cleaning Specialists was working inside an apartment when they noticed a malfunction with their equipment. When they went outside to check on the problem, they discovered their van in flames. An apartment manager attempted to put out the fire with a a portable extinguisher, but was unsuccessful. He and a Temple College police officer then went to nearby apartments to alert residents and ask them to evacuate.

Temple Fire & Rescue arrived at the scene shortly before 6:30 p.m. When they arrived, they saw smoke billowing from the van, which was parked 25 feat from the nearest apartment. Fire crews extinguished the flames and declared the scene cleared at 7:39 p.m.

An investigation determined that the fire was due to a malfunction in a cleaning device in the van. The interior of the vehicle and the equipment inside were destroyed. No one was injured and firefighters confirmed that no apartments were in danger.