Two people are left injured and another 32 people are rendered displaced after an apartment building in Norfolk, Virginia caught on fire. When emergency services arrived on the scene of the incident, they were greeted with wild flames spanning across the building, being fanned and fueled by powerful gusts of wind.
The Mira Mar Apartments broke out in flames around 2 p.m. One resident was confined on the second floor and was later taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Officials report to 13News. One other person was also reported to have arrived at the hospital with similar non-critical injuries.
The incident occurred on the Sewells Point Road, and traffic lanes in the 7100 block are shut down between Kennedy Street and Johnston Road. The center apartment building as a total loss, with the high winds causing the fire to spread to buildings next door, firefighters report.
At the least, 32 people are now displaced, and the Red Cross has offered on-scene assistance to any of the occupants who are in need of support in being rehomed, the Norfolk Fire-Rescue reports.
While the exact cause of the fire is still under investigation, demolition crews began removing buildings on Tuesday night following the fire.
Videos of the chaos have begun to start circulating on social media, and they show a group of bystanders heroically joining together to assist residents who were trapped on the top floor of the building. One man is seen climbing the side of the building pulling a woman out and handing her off to the group to be taken to safety.
Local media circulating alongside the video of the incident seems to suggest that the fire was caused accidently by cooking that had been left unattended.
“This only serves to fuel the argument for increased funding to fire departments,” said criminal justice major Janareah McDaniel, “Not all heroes wear capes- what [the citizens] did was amazing and commendable, but I think firefighters should be able to operate to their full capacity so that nobody else has to risk themselves and their own personal safety to save someone else.”
Comments