HAMPTON, Va. — Dozens of apartment residents in Hampton are figuring out what's next after an apartment fire at the Township in Hampton Woods Apartments.
Eight firefighters and four residents were hurt from the blaze, officials said. As of Friday evening, those eight firefighters had been treated and released from local hospitals. Two residents were still hospitalized after suffering "moderate to severe" thermal injuries, and another two were hospitalized from smoke inhalation.
All 24 units inside the building were deemed not inhabitable, according to a spokesperson for the City of Hampton. Twelve of those units were considered a total loss, and now roughly 50 residents are displaced.
The fire was eventually brought under control shortly after 3:20 a.m. Firefighters stayed for several hours to begin the investigation.
“We saw the water, some of the things they have let us retrieve is pretty water damaged. I assume it’s pretty bad," resident JoAnne Jones said. “You got your life in there, photos of your family degrees and things like that. But it can all be replaced."
“We gave quite a bit of financial assistance to each family today. That’s just the beginning. That’s immediate assistance, for immediate needs right now. We will follow them after opening up cases," Bill Egerton said, the disaster program manager with the American Red Cross.
Egerton said there are at least 17 families who have opened cases with the Red Cross for assistance following the fire.
"We’ll follow each case until their roadblocks are met. Maybe the roadblock is housing, transportation, housing, clothing," he said.
“Essentially the whole top third floor was engulfed in flames,” said Margaret Owens, who lives at the apartment complex.
Owens and her husband, Kenneth, live next to the building that caught fire. They say they woke up to the sound of fire trucks and crews on the scene.
They said flames ripped through the roof of the building labeled "6."
"Being so close, afraid for my own safety," Kenneth Owens said.
"Afraid for my wife’s safety and my mother-in-law’s apartment.”
Margaret watched as crews worked to get the fire under control.
“You could hear parts of the building just collapsing inward and falling," she said. "When you look out the door, you just see people’s stuff laying in water.”
The couple said they are fortunate the flames didn’t spread to their home.
“If there had been a gust, it could have easily spread to any of the apartments,” she said.
The origin and cause of the fire are being investigated, but the Hampton Division of Fire & Rescue doesn't think it was malicious.