Elderly woman injured in Fuquay-Varina apartment fire dies
FUQUAY-VARINA, N.C. -- Firefighters rushed to a Fuquay-Varina apartment complex early Wednesday morning after flames engulfed one of the units.
It happened just after 4 a.m. in the 100 block of Hillcrest Circle, off South Main Street.
Neighbors told ABC11 that 90-year-old Doris Clay lived at the apartment with her grandson.
Her grandson was able to escape from the burning home and knocked on neighboring units to get help. One neighbor told ABC11 he tried to rescue Clay before emergency crews arrived, but the flames were too intense.
"I tried to enter the front door by crawling, but I couldn't go any further," said Jay Lambert. "It was too much smoke. I hollered for her. I didn't hear anything. She didn't say anything. It's a sad thing. We've got good neighbors around here."
Clay was later rescued from the building by firefighters and taken to WakeMed Hospital in an ambulance after going into cardiac arrest. She was later flown to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill where she later died.
Officials have not released the name of Clay's grandson at this time, but he is reportedly expected to be okay.
"He tried to go in, and couldn't go," Lambert said. "And he hollered for his grandmother, and he said she was trying to get through the hall there, and that's when he lost sight of her."
Authorities did say the fire started in a bedroom, but it was unclear what sparked the blaze that destroyed the apartment.
