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Months before completion, fire engulfs Brookside apartments

street lights burned
Lukas Udstuen
/
KBIA

Burned traffic signals lay in front of the smoldering apartment complex at the corner of College Ave. and Walnut Street. Fire crews were still spraying water onto the burned Brookside apartment complex at 12:30 p.m. Sunday. Smoke could still be seen rising from some torched portions of the property on its corners. The apartments were due to open August, 2012.

The fire started Sunday morning around 5 a.m. In a message to renters, on the Brookside Facebook page, the company said about 30 percent of the complex will be completed by the end of August, when leases begin.  

Dear Residents of Brookside on College, This morning at 5AM, our building at College and Walnut caught fire and burned. We currently working hard to assess the situation and determine the extent of the damage. It's very early in the process, but at this time we are hopeful that some units may be ready for occupancy sooner than others. Our residents are our first priority, and to this end we are already working to obtain temporary housing for those who will need it. We met this morning with Stephens College and it appears that through them we will have temporary housing for every single resident in the fall. In keeping with the aforementioned focus on our residents we will be sharing as much information as possible, as quickly as possible. We will be issuing daily updates, with additional updates as important information becomes available. Please watch for these updates in your email in the days to come. Sincerely, Brookside

According to the Columbia Daily Tribune, the Columbia Fire department has not speculated on a cause to the fire, but investigators are standing by.  There have been no reports of injuries or deaths.

More at the Columbia Daily Tribune, along with a slide show of photos at the scene.  

The Columbia Missourian has photos and reports on how the developers gained support from Mayor Bob McDavid by supporting his FastCAT transit proposal.