VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Firefighters responded to the scene of an apartment fire in Virginia Beach Friday night. It happened at Thalia Gardens apartments, near Bonney Road at around 8:30 p.m.
“I’ve never seen a fire up close,” said Jason Serrano, a resident at Thalia Gardens apartments.
Fire officials say heavy smoke and flames could be seen coming from the second story of the complex, affecting four apartment units. The fire was under control in roughly 30 minutes. No one was hurt.
Fire officials said five adults are displaced along with two dogs. The Red Cross is assisting the residents of three of the apartment units.
Serrano, who lives in another building at the complex, said a neighbor banged on his door to warn him about the fire.
“And said ‘hey, there’s a fire outside two buildings down from us," he said. "Get out. Get out now.”
He said he and his family ran outside worried it would spread to their building.
“It started relatively small and then the flames just got bigger and ended up just blowing the whole roof off,” Serrano said.
On Saturday, some residents grabbed clothes and other items from the complex, still devastated by the fire.
“I’m glad everyone got out," Serrano said. "It still sucks knowing that there could have been memories and everything in that building.”
A resident who lived in the building that caught on fire said off-camera he had just returned home from work before the fire started. He said he saw smoke coming from his vents and saw flames in the hallway before he ran out to call 911.
A fire department spokesperson said Saturday after speaking with investigators the fire appears to be accidental. Though, she said they are still investigating. No final determination of the origin or cause of the fire has been declared at this time.
Residents said before the fire started, they experienced a power outage. The fire department spokeswoman said a car hit a power pole around 3:30 pm Friday at Bonney Road and Boggs Avenue which caused some outages in the area, including Thalia Gardens. She said there is no information at this time to connect the two incidents. She adds they will know more when the investigation is complete.
