Apple Fire Caused $2 Million in Damage, Fire Department Says

The fire that broke out Tuesday night at a building on Apple's Cupertino campus caused approximately US$2 million in damage, the Santa Clara County Fire Department said Friday.

No one was hurt in Tuesday's fire, which broke out at 10 p.m. in a building on Valley Green Drive across from Apple's main campus on Infinite Loop. Smoke from the fire and water damage from putting out the blaze caused most of the damage, according to fire officials. It took fire crews about two and a half hours to extinguish the flames.

The fire started accidentally, according to the Santa Clara County Fire Department. Fire captain Daron Pisciotta attributed the cause to construction work being done on the building, where workers were welding on the building's roof.

Initial reports of the fire said that it had broken out at a building housing Apple's research-and-development efforts; however, Apple executives confirmed that the building is not an R&D center.