Sept. 29--An apartment fire Saturday displaced five Fayetteville families and injured one resident.
The two-alarm fire started around 3 p.m. at the Ponderosa Apartments complex on Wichita Drive, which is off Bonanza Drive and near the Westover schools.
Fire Chief Ben Major said everyone had evacuated from the eight-unit apartment building that caught fire, but one male resident was taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center for smoke inhalation.
The resident's condition wasn't immediately available, and the cause of the fire remained under investigation.
"Once it got into the attic, it spread quickly," Major said, adding that the wind "was not in our favor."
The fire was contained to one two-story building.
Firefighters were using an aerial ladder truck to shoot a torrent of water -- at a rate of 1,000 gallons a minute -- over the smoldering rooftop.
The Highlands chapter of the American Red Cross said five families -- a total of 18 people -- were displaced. They were given toiletry items and will be put up in local hotels.
One of the evacuated residents, Rita Gore, 48, said she smelled smoke.
People were yelling to get out of the apartment, she said.
Gore said she, her two children and her sister got out safely, taking only their pocketbooks. The sisters had lived there for 21 years.
"Everything is gone," Gore said.
But, she said she is glad everyone was all right.
"You can replace everything but your life," Gore said.
Muaadh Saif, 13, said he was walking upstairs to get his camera when he saw smoke from his bedroom window. Unaware of the danger, he closed his window, but soon afterward, his father raced into the apartment and told him to get outside.
"It was very scary because I couldn't breathe," Saif said. "Whatever it was, I couldn't breathe."
Saif said he and his family moved into the complex a week ago and were not finished unpacking. His mother stood next to him, with tears on her cheeks.
Witnesses said the fire was fast-moving. Cary Jefferson, who lives in the neighboring Foxfire community, said several people tried to put out the roaring blaze before firefighters arrived on the scene, but their efforts were futile.
Staff writer Andrew Barksdale can be reached at [email protected] or 486-3565. Staff writer Caitlin Dineen can be reached at [email protected] or 486-3509.
Copyright 2013 - The Fayetteville Observer, N.C.
