BLACKSBURG, Va. – Several residents have been relocated to motel rooms at a nearby inn at Virginia Tech following a massive fire at the Foxridge Apartment Complex in Blacksburg late Monday night.
Crews with the Blacksburg Volunteer Fire Department were called to the apartment complex at approximately 10 p.m. When they arrived, flames were billowing from the second and third floors, as well as the roof.
“The roof is burned off a majority of this building,” said Blacksburg Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief Drew Smith. “Significant damage to all 3, or all 4 apartments on the third floor.”
Fortunately, everyone had already evacuated by the time firefighters arrived. It is unclear how many residents were inside the building, authorities said.
“I know everybody was evacuated when we got here; we searched it twice,” Smith said.
The blaze caused significant damage to all four units on the third floor and one or two units on the second floor. Water and heat damage affected all 12 units in the building. Smith told 10 News that no firefighters were injured.
The fire left many students worried about their safety and that of their neighbors.
“You can kind of see through the whole apartment and all the firefighters rummaging around trying to see what started the fire,” said Virginia Tech student Jack Craddock. “It’s kind of appalling, like it’s scary to look at and it’s like, yeah, that could happen to anybody.”
Stay with 10 News as this breaking news story continues to develop.