A two-alarm fire ignited by a construction worker at the Memorial Union Theater Monday morning caused approximately $10,000 in damage and injured one firefighter, according to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department.
The Madison Fire Department responded to a call at 7:38 a.m. about a fire that started on the first floor and reached the fifth floor of the Union Theater, according to MFD Spokesperson Eric Dahl.
Firefighters arrived at the scene in three minutes and deemed the fire under control 15 minutes later at 7:55 a.m.
The fire began after a construction worker, who was using a torch-like tool, accidently set wax paper hanging on the walls ablaze with the tool, according to Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8.
No one from the public was injured, but a firefighter was taken to the hospital for a heat-related illness, according to Dahl.
Upon firefighters’ arrival, Dahl said crews could see smoke coming out of two sides of the building and deemed the incident a two-alarm fire, calling more firefighters and trucks to the scene.
Dahl said fire reached an attic space, which firefighters accessed after minutes of searching for entryway. Once they found it, they placed a hose in the space to quickly extinguish the fire.
“Their access to the attic was limited to one door,” Dahl said in a statement. “Moving around in the attic space required crawling around on small walkways in heavy smoke conditions.”
The MFD made a “tremendous stop” to the fire and prevented further damage to the building, according to Dahl.
Other firefighters used aerial ladders to climb onto the roof to ensure they extinguished all flames in the roofing material, according to an MFD statement.
Resnick said the fire should not significantly delay Memorial Union renovations, located in the building’s west wing, because there appears to be no structural damage to the building.
The room where the fire occurred was gutted entirely due to the construction project, so nothing in it was damaged, according to Resnick. However, he said there will be some cleanup required to continue the renovations.
