SUFFOLK, Va. — UPDATE: A fire in an apartment building near Downtown Suffolk sent two children and three firefighters to the hospital Wednesday afternoon.
The building is located in the 500 block of Smith Street and was reported around 1:20 p.m. as a three-alarm fire. In response, fire trucks and police cars lined part of the historic district of Suffolk.
"Everything was closed up with firetrucks," said neighbor Delores Hilton, who spoke with 13News Now about the presence of emergency responders on her community's roads.
Fire Chief Michael Barakey believed the fire started in one of the four units in the apartment building. It was under control by 3:15 p.m.
"Because of the extensive nature of that fire in that one unit, it went up, went into the attic space and migrated over to the other apartment. So, all four apartments suffered smoke and fire damage," Chief Barakey said.
Barakey told 13News Now first responders raced to pull one child out of the burning building. Barakey said that child, along with another child who already made it outside, had to go to the hospital for possible smoke inhalation.
On Thursday, officials said one of the children remained in critical condition.
Hilton said she had never seen anything like this happen in the neighborhood.
With temperatures in 80s all afternoon, officials said three firefighters went to the hospital for heat exhaustion. As of Thursday, two remain hospitalized in stable condition while one was released.
"We have an extensive amount of work, multiple bottles, we call that when we have to put our air packs on and go inside repetitively. It tends to get very exhausting, very physically demanding and all," said Barakey. "So yes, it will work a firefighter down a little bit, and as we acclimate to the summer season, we'll get a little bit better at it with the acclimation."
Everyone in the apartment building is displaced, according to Suffolk Fire & Rescue. Officials believe that 11 people, including 5 adults and 6 children, were affected. The American Red Cross was contacted to help them out.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Author's note: The city initially said two children were pulled from the burning building, but an official later clarified to say only one was rescued. The other child was outside when first responders arrived at the scene.
Additionally, Suffolk Fire & Rescue reported about one firefighter sent to the hospital for possible heat exhaustion. On Thursday, the department stated a total of three were hospitalized.