A Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department drone shows the Rise Doro fire at its height. after the roof had burned out and floors collapsed inside. | Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department
Published on January 6, 2025 at 5:55 pm
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It appears we may never know what started the fire that destroyed the $65 million rise Doro apartments in Downtown Jacksonville almost a year ago, just days before the building was supposed to open.
Florida’s Division of State Fire Marshal has completed its investigation of the fire and labeled the cause as “undetermined.”
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Gutted sections of the seven-story structure were too unsafe for investigators to enter or had collapsed due to fire and water damage, according to a 166-page report obtained Monday by Jacksonville Today.
Areas where the fire may have started could not be reached, and no forensic examination of those areas was possible, the report said.
“Based upon the fire scene examination, knowledge of fire development, firefighter and witness statements, coupled with supporting documentation, there was no conclusive evidence to indicate a specific cause of the fire,” the report concludes.
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The cause is most likely “irregular electrical activity” the report says, but “it is recommended at this time, this case be classified as undetermined.”
The Rise Doro fire
The fire struck the 247-unit complex late Jan. 28. Some 110 firefighters battled the blaze throughout the night and into the next day, and it was finally extinguished days later.
City engineers deemed the building across from 121 Financial Ballpark structurally unsafe after what Fire Chief Keith Powers called one of the worst fires in the city in a decade.
The charred wood-framed apartment sections were demolished, but the concrete core — containing the central stair and elevator section, the parking garage and the rooftop pool — remained standing.
Greg Blais, president of the Rise real estate company, told Jacksonville Today last month that the start of reconstruction was “imminent.” He said Monday that Rise closed on financing on New Year’s Eve and would begin construction within two weeks.
“Obviously, we would have liked to learn the cause of the fire, but I am not in a position to speculate on the cause and will live with the comments in the report just like everyone else,” he said.
“Like you, we look forward to seeing Rise Doro develop over the next 18-20 months.”
The investigation
Investigators from the Bureau of Fire, Arson, and Explosives got into parts of the building within a day of the fire’s being extinguished and found “sustained fire, heat, and smoke damage” on the upper floors on the west side. The heaviest visible exterior damage was at the seventh floor.
The exterior wall on the lower levels near the southwestern section was “structurally compromised and bulging outward towards the roadway,” the report said.
The north side of the building also showed fire, heat and smoke damage on the upper floors, with the heaviest visible exterior damage also on the seventh floor. Part of the roof collapsed into the floor below, the report said.
The east side also had its share of heavy damage. The exterior wall on the lower levels near the southeastern section was “structurally compromised and bulging outward towards the roadway.”
Based on fire patterns and the areas of heaviest damage, investigators determined that the fire may have begun within the floor void of the seventh floor on the southwest quadrant of the structure.
An open area on the seventh floor on the southwestern quadrant showed “visible fire charring,” the report said. That area had electrical wiring traversing within the open area, the report said.
Kent Barber, the construction project manager, told investigators he believed an electrical problem may have caused the fire.
READ MORE: Dramatic video captures Rise Doro fire
The building had recently experienced electrical issues, he said, and he provided investigators a photograph of an electrical panel that was in the process of being repaired.
“They were waiting for a specific part to arrive to complete the repair,” the report said.
Rise Doro Operations Director Walter Macauley also identifed electrical issues as a possible cause. He cited concerns about the work performed by a subcontractor who was not identified in the report.
Other observations
Yenit Pupo, a member of a cleaning crew working just after noon Jan. 28 on the fourth floor, told investigators that she smelled “something burning” in what she described as “electrical cable,” but Pupo did not see any smoke or fire.
Members of another cleaning crew told investigators that after cleaning stairways at 4:30 p.m. Jan. 28, “they detected the odor of plastic burning during the mid-day (12:30 p.m.), and the odor was stronger on the seventh floor” near the south side of the structure.
State investigators echoed factors that Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department officials said hampered firefighting efforts. First, the fire suppression system was installed, but a “valve was turned off and the system would not pressurize.”
Also, a fire chief told investigators his crews were unable to access the structure from the northside due to an incomplete stairwell. Some were forced to use a ladder to access the seventh floor through a balcony door to attack the fire with a hose.
There also was a complaint about “shoddy” work done on the air conditioning units on the roof and upper floors by someone who visited the job site Feb. 23, 2023, the report said.
Investigators also checked on whether anyone had seen anything suspicious. Construction workers like Florlinda Sanchez said she did not see anyone else inside the building except for her co-workers. Many co-workers said the same.
