Tennessee Firefighters Battle Intense 4-Alarm Apartment Fire

A four-alarm fire destroyed an Bellevue apartment building overnight. Now investigators are searching for the cause, as well as two people who left the scene just as the fire started.

By daybreak Monday, the devastation of the fire was evident at Building M in the Belle Valley Aapartments off of Old Hickory Blvd. The four-alarm fire burned fast and fierce. The smell of smoke was so strong it woke most people up.

Resident Paul Berry said, "I smelled smoke and and saw the flames shooting up and I got my wife up and my boy up."

"Smoke was already in our apartment," said resident Charlton Goodwin. "The blaze was two apartments away from us at that time. We woke up and had enough time to get some clothes on and run out the door, and by that time it had engulfed most of the apartment complex. It was pretty much gone."

The people who live in the apartment where the fire started were gone as well. The fire department asked Metro Police to be on the lookout for a man and woman in a blue Nissan Altima.

Berry said, "We heard them hollering, 'Get out! Get out!' but they didn't tell anybody. They jumped in the car and took off."

In all, 14-16 apartment units were damaged or destroyed by the heavy flames and smoke. Fire officials say everyone made it out of their apartment okay but many family pets were killed.

Fire victim Olivia Goodwin said, "I lost my cats up there...otherwise we're very lucky."

The Belle Valley apartment complex is no stranger to fires. Fire hit the complex twice before. A blaze in July, 2003 damaged 12 of the building's 18 units. And another fire hit just a few months later in October, 2003.