Rohnert Park apartment fire displaces family of 3

A fire at a Rohnert Park apartment complex Saturday afternoon was due to a construction mishap and left one family displaced, according to officials.

Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety firefighters were dispatched about 2:45 p.m. to the report of a structure fire in the 7300 block of Boris Court, Rohnert Park Deputy Public Safety Chief Aaron Johnson said Monday.

Responding fire crews found smoke coming from the attic of an apartment complex that was undergoing construction in some units.

Firefighters tore out wallboard from several second-story units to extinguish the flames and put out any smoldering insulation, Johnson said.

No injuries were reported, officials said, as many of the units were unoccupied due to the construction. Though, a family of three was displaced, but officials did not indicate Monday which unit they occupied.

The fire had started, according to officials, when a worker was sweating copper pipes ― the process of heating up a metal alloy to create a watertight seal between the pipe and another piece of metal ― when the flame caught on insulation and spread inside a wall and up to the attic.

The fire caused about $50,000 in damage to the building, officials said.

You can reach Staff Writer Madison Smalstig at madison.smalstig@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @madi.smals.