Hot pot to blame for townhouse fire

SMITHFIELD

The fire broke out around 10:30 p.m. at a two-story building in the 100 block of Landmark Drive after authorities said someone left a unattended pot on a hot stove.

» Click here for a map of the area «

When firefighters arrived, the fire was quickly spreading according to eyewitnesses.

"I kept hearing something out here and I looked out my bedroom window and the first thing I saw were curtains fall off her windows," nearby resident Lena Williams said.

Williams said she then ran over to the woman's home.

"When she woke up, she said the fire detector was going off," Williams said. "She tried to put it out, but she couldn't do so, so she came out and I told her, you did the right thing ... because you couldn't save your life."

It took firefighters an hour to get the blaze under control.

They said one unit was heavily damaged and two others had some smoke and water damage.

The Red Cross reported that five families were displaced.

The damage could cost almost $300,000 to repair.

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