June 30--Emergency personnel responded Thursday afternoon to an apartment fire that displaced five people. It was the fourth such fire within a 24-hour period in Fayetteville.
Fayetteville and Cumberland Road firefighters were called at 1:22 p.m. to 806 Miller Ave., off Ireland Drive near Douglas Byrd High School, according to a news release from Fayetteville fire Battalion Chief Richard Whiteside.
Initial crews arrived on the the scene to find smoke coming from beneath a two-story four-unit apartment building and at the electrical meter box. The fire was contained to the area where it ignited and power was cut off to the building because of several electrical wires that were burned. The scene was cleared by 2:40 p.m.
Residents said construction crews had been repairing the water lines under the apartment earlier in the day, the news release said.
The American Red Cross was called for assistance because the building had no power to combat the elevated heat, Whiteside said; no one was injured.
One of two Wednesday apartment fires that displaced 39 people was the result of arson. That fire began at 5:49 p.m. in a bedroom of a ground-floor unit at 575 Cutchen Lane in the Village at Cliffdale Apartments, fire officials said.
The second fire, at 6:15 p.m. was in a 12-unit building at 217 Waterdown Drive in The Crossings at Morganton complex. A State Bureau of Investigation agent was at the complex Thursday morning trying to determine what started the blaze that displaced all 18 of the building's occupants, who also are being helped by the Red Cross. No one was injured.
A third apartment fire, at 10:08 a.m. Thursday at Sycamore Apartments on Sycamore Court, appears to have been caused by an electrical short, fire officials said. Two people were displaced and assisted by the Red Cross.
Assistant metro editor Jackie Torok can be reached at [email protected] or 486-3570.
Copyright 2012 - The Fayetteville Observer, N.C.
