Fire causes $24,000 in damage to apartment

Fire investigators are looking into the cause of a small bathroom fire that caused $24,000 in damage to a five-story Glendale apartment building Friday, fire officials said.

At 12:30 p.m., firefighters responded to the 400 block of Vasser Avenue, where sprinklers on the building’s fourth floor had been activated because a blaze had broken out in an apartment on that level, said Brandy Villanueva, emergency services coordinator for the Glendale Fire Department.

After extinguishing the blaze in about an hour and a half, firefighters cleaned up water in apartments below the fire-damaged unit because water had seeped all the way to the first floor, Villanueva said.

Officials estimate $20,000 in damage to the building and $4,000 in damage to contents.

No injuries were reported.

Officials urge residents to make sure their sprinklers and smoke detectors are in good condition as the National Fire Protection Administration has found that sprinklers reduce civilian fire deaths by 83% and property damage by 69%.

-- Alene Tchekmedyian

Follow Alene Tchekmedyian on Google+ and on Twitter: @atchek.