NORFOLK, Va. — Scaffolding and burnt walls are all that’s left at 913 Greenway Court in Norfolk, and Brad McMurran barely recognizes his past home.
Firefighters saved McMurran from an early morning fire that destroyed a 15-unit West Ghent apartment complex in November 2021. The blaze caused the roof to collapse, and several people were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Firefighters broke down McMurran's door to carry him out, but almost one year later it’s one chapter of his life he can’t seem to close.
“I know as much today as what I knew a year ago on what happened.”
McMurran said he’s one of several former tenants with growing concerns, waiting for answers about the exact cause of that fire.
"We have video that has been given to us, by the tenants in the building that they've filmed," he said. "It could show more evidence, but never been asked for it."
Days after the fire, a spokesperson for Norfolk Fire & Rescue said investigators were looking into the cause, but confirmed it wasn't believed to be an intentionally set fire.
Email archives from that same spokesperson do not reflect an updated cause of the fire. 13News Now is still waiting to hear back from the agency for any updated findings on the investigation.
"What actually happened? What caused the fire? Why were all these residents so displaced? That’s what we’re looking for. That’s what we expected to see," McMurran's attorney Matthew Moynihan said while discussing a FOIA request that yielded little information about the fire's cause.
"Swept under the rug, like, 'That thing happened that night, let's move on.' That's how it feels. 'It happened, you’re all alive, let's move on,'" McMurran said.