BETHLEHEM, Pa. — A fire at Five10 Flats in South Bethlehem Friday afternoon appears to have been caused by a cigarette discarded in a rooftop planter.
The fire activated alarms around 1:18 p.m., forcing the evacuation of the four-floor mixed-use building. Officials did not report any injuries.
Peyton Richter, a resident who works from home in the building, described the scene.
“Around one, I was just working, and the fire alarm went off, so I immediately got up, grabbed my keys, and walked out down the fire exit,” Richter said. “When I got outside, a big puff of black smoke was coming from the roof.”
Richter added, “The fire marshals rushed out of the parking lot across the Street, and you could see the whole roof of the building engulfed in flames. Things were falling off the roof. It almost sounded like an explosion happened—a big boom.”
John Callahan, Director of Business Development for Peron Development, which owns the building, described what security footage revealed.
“We were able to access the security camera footage and we were able to identify there is a resident who was smoking on a rooftop deck and put a cigarette out in a planter,” Callahan said Friday evening.
“The video showed the planter smoldering before the fire spread quickly over the top of the roof.”
Residents initially reported the fire started in an elevator shaft. However, Callahan explained that the first fire sensor that detected the blaze was located near the elevator that goes to the roof.
The property has been deemed structurally sound.
While the building remains closed, residents can retrieve essential personal items and are being accommodated in local hotels. Some of which are stepping up to volunteer space until the building reopens.
City resources and the Red Cross also established a resource tent in the parking lot to assist displaced residents.
The resident responsible has not yet been identified.
