A Gainesville apartment fire destroyed one townhouse, leaving it unlivable, and damaged two adjacent townhouses today.
The resident of unit 61 of Woodland Villas, 5950 SW 20th Ave., was moving in when boxes in the kitchen caught fire, said Carol Davis, Alachua County Fire Rescue spokeswoman.
Someone had turned on the stove burners while the electricity was off. When the unit's electricity was turned on, the stove eyes ignited the boxes.
At about 1:20 p.m., ACFR received a call alerting them of the fire.
When the firefighters got to the complex, apartment 61 was engulfed in flames.
They were able to put the fire out within 15 to 20 minutes of arriving at the complex.
Unit 61 is no longer livable. But people can continue to live in the two adjacent apartments, which only suffered smoke damage, Davis said.
