East Raleigh apartment complex heavily damaged by fire

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- The Raleigh Fire Department battled a 2-alarm fire at an apartment complex in the 300 block of Roselle Court off Calumet Drive near WakeMed Thursday night.

Heavy flames poured from a 3-story building. You could smell the smoke from New Bern Avenue, and it was a towering inferno when you made the turn onto Calumet Drive.

Dayton Watson was driving for Uber in Durham when his 10-year-old son texted him cellphone video of the raging fire at the apartment building next door.

"I told him get out of the building," he said.

It took just under an hour to get under control. Six apartment units were destroyed and 29 people were displaced. Investigators said the fire started on the second story of the build and spread to the third.

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The flames burned right through Jennifer Aquino's apartment. She was down the street at work.

"I ran down the street to find out it was my apartment that was burning," she said.

Her husband was inside with their 2-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter. They got out okay.

While her apartment is a total loss, she's still counting her blessings.

"In light of it all, I'll be okay," she said.