At approximately 10:37 PM on Monday, July 2, 2018, the Central Dakota Communications Center received a report of smoke inside a building on the 800 block of South Washington Street.  The Bismarck Fire Department was dispatched to investigate.  The first arriving fire crew established command and went to investigate.  The fire crew reported a three story commercial building with nothing showing from the outside.  When the fire crew entered the building they found a light haze of smoke throughout the interior and heavier smoke in a back stock room.  Additional fire units arrived on scene and laddered the roof. The roof division found a ventilation stack that had smoke coming from it.  The vent stack appeared to have been displaced by the storm.  Fire crews cut through the roof decking and found that the wood framework around the vent pipe was burning.  The fire was extinguished and an overhaul operation was conducted to confirm that the fire was out.  When the overhaul operation was complete and the building ventilated of smoke, the scene was handed over to the building management. 

Four fire department apparatus and 17 firefighters were dispatched to the scene.  Bismarck Police Department assisted with scene control.  Metro Area Ambulance was on scene to provide medical support. 

The burning material was found between two layers of metal roofing.  There was an air space between that allowed the smoke to travel approximately 50 feet to an air handler.  The air handler pushed the smoke out into the interior of the building.  The ventilation pipe served a commercial dishwasher.  The business was unoccupied at the time of the fire.  There were no injuries to firefighters or other first responders.  Damage to the building is estimated at $7000.  The cause of this fire has been classified as accidental. 

For more information visit www.bismarcknd.gov/fire.