Several units destroyed in apartment complex fire in Southwest Raleigh
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- The Raleigh Fire Department confirmed no injuries were sustained after a Southwest Raleigh apartment complex went up in flames Wednesday afternoon, sending large billows of smoke and flames into the air.
According to Raleigh FD, the cause of the fire was accidental.
However, fire officials 16 units were destroyed and the roof is completely gone for much of the building.
The fire started around 2:30 p.m. at Enclave at Crossroads Apartments, which is located off Crossroads Arbor Way.
The complex was built in 1999. It consists of 24 buildings and 304 apartment units.
A Red Cross volunteer at the scene said some of the units that caught fire had pets inside. At least some of those pets were evacuated, treated for smoke inhalation, and given back to their families.
Tommie Flannery, whose dogs were rescued by Cary area EMS, said, "I thought they were dead and if they were gone, this is all I have. This is my family."
She went on to say that the firefighters went in her home and brought the dogs out in a bag she had on the floor and wrapped them in a blanket. "If I had lost them that would've been everything to me," she said.
Chief Ian Toms said that when firefighters got to the scene, they saw heavy fire coming from the balcony of one of the units.
Despite the heavy wings, he said the biggest challenge was accessing the water supply.
"The biggest challenge today actually was the water supply," he said. "The hydrant that we used inside the apartment complex over here was adequate for one of the engines but we could not feed the ladder truck from that. So we had to, as you can see, go through the fence. And shut down the road and grab a second hydrant to bring in a second water supply."
Resident Nathan Fleming said he believes he lost everything in the fire.
"It's hard. I've never lost anything like this," he said. "I have nowhere to stay now. I don't know what I'm going to do."
