Power surge causes evacuation

Bloomington firefighters and police responded to a reported fire Thursday morning at Smallwood Apartments on North College Avenue.

Firefighters evacuated the fifth through eighth floors of the building around 10 a.m.,
Bloomington Fire Department Capt. Tania Daffron said.

Heavy smoke billowed out the top of the apartments, but no fire was located.

A power surge in the area prior to the reported fire had knocked out power to multiple places in the area.

A switch box at a Duke Energy construction site on North Rogers Street caught fire around 9:30 a.m. producing a power surge that shut power down to several traffic lights, Smallwood Apartments and caused the fire alarm at Bub’s Burgers on North Morton Street to go off.

Dennis Barbosa