JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Bureau of Fire, Arson & Explosives Investigations released its final report into last year’s massive fire at the RISE Doro apartments and found “no conclusive evidence” to determine the specific cause of the blaze.
While investigators classified the cause as “undetermined,” the final report states that the fire at the downtown luxury apartment complex was likely caused by “irregular electrical activity” within the floor void near the 7th floor.
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On Jan. 28, 2024, the $60 million RISE Doro apartments, which were still under construction, went up in flames.
The apartment building, which sat on 1.38 acres along A. Philip Randolph Boulevard between Adams and Forsyth streets, was supposed to open to its first eight tenants the weekend after the fire broke out.
According to the report, four construction workers were in the building at the time of the fire, around 10:30 p.m., and they were able to escape uninjured. They said they saw smoke on a lower level inside the building and told a security guard, who called 911.
The massive blaze kept more than 100 firefighters working for days until it was extinguished. At times, crews working to control the blaze had issues accessing areas of the building because the floor was burnt away. Crews also tried to activate the fire suppression system but the OSY valve was turned off in the building and the system would not pressurize. It appeared the fire suppression system was “dry” or didn’t work.
The devastating fire left the brand-new luxury apartment building unsafe. City engineers determined that it was no longer structurally sound, and the wood-framed portions had to be demolished.
The Bureau of Fire, Arson & Explosives was called to begin an investigation into the cause of the fire.
According to the final report, witnesses stated they smelled “odor of plastic burning” around the afternoon of Jan. 28, and also reported that the odor was stronger on the 7th floor near the south side of the structure near the elevator lobby.
The report also states the building’s project manager claimed the apartment complex had been experiencing electrical issues at the electrical control panel and they were waiting for a specific part to arrive to complete the repair.
News4JAX spoke with a structural engineer during the ongoing investigation and said some investigative work would probably be compromised due to the circumstances of the fire. Investigators and structural engineers usually go inside a building to determine the cause of a fire and conduct as many assessments as they can. However, that was not possible in this scenario because the RISE Doro building was not safe for anyone to enter, including the firefighters who battled the blaze for days.
With the release of the final report classifying the cause as “undetermined”, the investigation into the fire was also closed as there were no further leads.
In June, the City of Jacksonville said it was looking into giving developers of the apartment complex an incentive package that would help them rebuild after the devastating fire.
The developer of RISE Doro is a real estate company named RISE. According to the company’s website, it has dozens of apartment complexes located across the country in its portfolio, including several in the Jacksonville area.
The company put out a statement thanking the firefighters and first responders who helped put out the fire and during a news conference, RISE President and Chief Financial Officer Greg Blais confirmed that the complex was insured and that he was not opposed to rebuilding.
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“You’re overtaken by something that, you know, you fall in love with your projects. They all mean something very, very important to what we’re trying to accomplish. We were going to impact a ton of families living down here in this amazing sports district of downtown Jacksonville and taking and understanding the good that can be done through creating residences, creating experiences, allowing other families to call your facility home,” Blais said. “It does get emotional because we’re right at the impetus of having people be able to call this place home. And then the unfortunate fire broke out.”
The loss is estimated at $60 million, which is also the value of the property.