Raleigh residents seek answers in wake of downtown fire

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- In the four months since Raleigh's biggest fire in nearly a century, residents around the downtown site still have a lot of questions.

READ MORE: Complete coverage of the downtown Raleigh fire

ABC11 caught up with Ashleigh Traylor who lives in the Link Apartments adjacent to the fire scene.

"It's been a long time since they actually cleaned up the fire debris," Traylor said. "Now having people come in and work, that's a different story. But I feel like (they) should have started right after the cleanup. I mean there's no reason to still have everything shut down right there."

City of Raleigh officials are now saying that the work on the Metropolitan, the under-construction apartment complex that burned, was held up by structural engineers who evaluated what little is left of the building and its foundation.

Also badly damaged by the fire were adjacent buildings including Link Apartments across Harrington Street and the Quorum building across Jones Street.

"I'm curious to know when it will be back open, access to the road back there," Colton Palmer, a resident at Link Apartments, told ABC 11. "And honestly when they are going to, if they're going to, resume construction. I think a lot of people are very curious as to what's going to happen with that area back there."

Officials said repairs at the Link and the Quorum have been held up by insurance claims.

But next week they expect construction at the two buildings and on the Metropolitan site will start cranking up.

The bad news for those living in the area, the streets will remain closed.

City officials said with crews working on both sides of Harrington and Jones streets, it's in the interest of public safety to keep the roads closed until the projects are completed.

As for the dozens of business nearby, officials said they plan to meet with owners in the coming days to address their concerns.