SUFFOLK, Va. — Suffolk Fire & Rescue officials say Suffolk Tower Apartment residents are still waiting to see if they can go back home after a three-alarm fire happened there Tuesday. A man was charged with arson in connection to the incident.
A fire marshal for the city, Battalion Chief Chris Cornwell said crews are working to make sure the fire alarm system has been completely restored before residents can return.
Initially, they were told they would be able to go back to their apartment as early as Thursday morning, July 15.
The call came in for a fire alarm at 4:03 a.m. in the 1800 block of North Main Street.
Suffolk Fire says they rescued five people. Two people were taken to the hospital and are in stable condition. One firefighter was treated for smoke inhalation.
The Fire Marshal’s Office investigating the cause of the fire confirmed that Herbert Macarery Boothe, an occupant of the 5th floor, was initially taken to the hospital has been arrested and charged with Arson of an Occupied Dwelling.
Additional charges are forthcoming for the 69-year-old, fire officials said.
The apartment building includes 50 occupied units and a total of 118 individuals, Klink said in a news release. 32 residents were forced to evacuate their apartments.
Annette Brown, who has lived at this apartment building for more than 20 years, says she woke up to smoke filling her room.
"I could barely breathe," Brown described the moments of her escape. "It was a lot of smoke and thank goodness for a police officer who helped me down the stairs."
Suffolk City Fire Chief Micahel Barakey says the building doesn't have a sprinkler system or firewalls, which made the fire spread faster, saying, "It takes three alarms worth of firefighters to work a high-rise building fire like this."
Brown and many others say it's unnerving to stay there, saying, "Very scared and nerve wracking. They're doing what they can, but I don't know. Just makes you think you got to get out of there."
The tenants displaced say they just recently returned, after they had to leave for weeks due to flooding. Kevin Henley says he's tired of being forced from his home.
"Now, we don't know where we're going to live again. We're back to the same boat again," said Henley. "Last time, I lost all my food and some of my furniture. I had to pay out of pocket to get all of that back."
Klink wrote Fire & Rescue teams helped people get their needed medications and keepsakes out of the building, and the building's management officials were working on getting 40 people moved into nearby hotels.