Latest update from city officials on the RISE Doro demolition

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It has been nearly two weeks since a massive fire broke out in Downtown Jacksonville at the RISE Doro apartment complex. We’re still left with many unanswered questions following the multi-day fire that took more than one hundred firefighters to control.

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Thankfully, no one was hurt. Demolition on the building began last Friday.

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Action News Jax has been pressing the Mayor’s office, the Downtown Investment Authority (DIA), the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department (JFRD), and, most notably, the Chief Operating Officer of RISE for more insight into the investigation.

Mayor Donna Deegan held press availability on Thursday, where Action News Jax, Meghan Moriarty, had the opportunity to ask some of our questions.

Moriarty: How long do you expect reconstruction to take? Also, we heard there were some financial issues with the property. Is there any truth to that?

Mayor Deegan: “Now, that I have not heard. All I know is that we were told by the fire marshals that the building was in fear of collapse, so we wanted to make sure we took it down before it fell on anybody. I’m glad that we have Intuition and the surrounding businesses there beginning to open back up again. That’s great. I know there is a desire by the builder to go back in and rebuild. However long that’s gonna take, I think, will depend on how long it takes to get everything outta there. What can be salvaged? And, then, frankly, what the market looks like now. How will they be able to rebuild and what will that look like. I don’t think we’re anywhere close to there until we get rid of the debris and all that stuff.”

Moriarty: Has the fire marshal said yet what caused the fire?

Mayor Deegan: “Oh, no. I think they’re just in the process of really digging into that. I suspect that will be awhile, but we will certainly keep you posted, if we hear anything on that. Obviously, we’re anxious to know those answers too.”

Moriarty: Are you aware of any structure concerns prior to the fire? Like unfinished stairwells or uneven floors that might have hampered firefighting efforts?

Related Story: RISE Doro apartment fire 911 calls released by JFRD

Mayor Deegan: “I am not aware of any of those things. I was told that they were within a week of starting to move people in. So, if anything was undone at that point—what I was told was that everything was gonna be finished in the next few weeks and that by March 1, they were ready to have a whole move-in. I’m not aware of anything beyond that.”

Moriarty: But, if the sprinkler system didn’t go off, is that move-in ready then?

Mayor Deegan: “But, see, that was gonna be scheduled for that following week. There had to be a pressure test done of the sprinkler system, which was supposed to happen the following week. After that pressure test then the sprinklers would be turning on. The timing was just horrible for all of this obviously.”

According to city permitting records, a pressure test of the fire safety system failed on October 13th of last year.

Last week, JFRD told Action News Jax the sprinkler system did not activate, and due to the incomplete construction, the fire was able to spread more easily into void spaces, which made it difficult for firefighters to directly douse the flames.

We reached out to the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department on Thursday for an update and to ask more about structural concerns and the cause of the fire. The spokesperson for the department did not get back to us.

Related Story: RISE Doro: Jacksonville firefighters spray hotspots over a day after massive apartment fire sparked

We also have been reaching out to the Downtown Investment Authority Executive Director, Lori Boyer, for the last week to ask how this will impact downtown development. She has not returned our calls, emails or requests for interviews.

Mayor Deegan said the builder does have plans to rebuild, but there’s a lot to clear out first and crews will have to determine what can be salvaged.

We reached out to the Chief Operating Officer of RISE, but he had not returned our phone calls.

We asked Mayor Deegan if she had concerns about the wood foundation of the property.

“They would not have been approved for construction if it wasn’t believed it was safe,” Mayor Deegan said.

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The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.

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