VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — More than a dozen people have been displaced following a massive fire that broke out at a Virginia Beach apartment complex on Thursday afternoon.
The Virginia Beach Fire Department said they were called to the Legends at the Beach apartment complex off of Pheasant Run just before 4 p.m. Arriving firefighters found heavy smoke and fire coming from a second-floor apartment unit. A neighbor told 13News Now a woman was on her balcony yelling for help.
"I stuck my head around the corner, and I could just see flames spewing from the balcony," said Rae, who lives in a nearby unit. "They were huge, just spewing out of the apartment, coming out of the windows. It was a lot."
The flames then quickly spread to other units. The blaze was marked under control after about an hour, but crews stayed on the scene for several hours to fully extinguish the fire.
"We went inside and got our animals out and got any valuables we needed," she continued. "[The woman] opened the door and she was yelling, like ‘kitties, please come out.’”
The American Red Cross has been contacted to help 13 displaced residents. Six cats and two dogs have also been displaced. No injuries were reported.
“I’m pretty shaken up, I feel sick to my stomach. I’m glad we’re all ok," said Rae.
Eight units total were damaged by the fire.
After investigating, VBFD said the fire started in a trashcan on the second-floor stairwell from discarded smoking material.
"Preliminary we believe the fire was caused by improperly disposed of smoking materials, someone I believe placed them in an ashcan and it wasn't completely out - that's what started the fire," said Norman Williams, Assistant Fire Chief for Virginia Beach Fire
It's the third time in less than 10 years that a large fire broke out at this Virginia Beach apartment complex. Previously, multi-unit apartment fires were reported in May of 2015 and again in May of 2021.
Williams said the fire in 2015 also started because someone improperly threw away their smoking materials.
"Smoking materials were dropped into a mulch pile and it spread quickly," said Williams. "It started from the exterior and made it's way inside."
Williams said he does not believe a rash of fires is happening at the apartment complex or across the city. He says these types of fires are completely preventable.
