Firefighters extinguished a "smoldering deep-seated" fire Friday after tearing open a wall in a first-floor garage of a three-story, 14-unit apartment complex in West Menlo Park.
The fire, reported at 6:54 p.m. at 3618 Alameda de las Pulgas, was out by 7:10 p.m., according to Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman of the Menlo Park Fire Protection District.
No one was injured. Firefighters had to open up a wall of stucco and sheet rock to get at the smoldering wood framing. An initial investigation put the estimated damage to the structure at $5,000, the chief said.
The cause is under investigation, but the fire appears to have begun in "some type of nest next to a drain pipe that ran the height of the building," the chief said.