About 30 people were displaced early Sunday after a fast-moving fire tore through the roof of an apartment complex in Roanoke, forcing crews to upgrade their response and shut down part of a residential street for hours. The blaze broke out before dawn at Countryside Estates in the 2300 block of Tuckawana Circle NW, and no injuries have been reported.
Crews were dispatched to the scene at 3:45 a.m. Sunday after a structure fire was reported in the area, according to WSLS 10. Engine 13's A-shift firefighters arrived first and reported heavy fire coming from the apartment complex roof, the station reported. As reported by WFXR, heavy smoke and fire were visible pouring from the top of the building as crews moved in.
Response Escalates to Two Alarms
The fire was quickly upgraded to a two-alarm response, prompting the dispatch of additional units, according to WDBJ7. Battalion Chief 2 marked the fire as under control at 5:29 a.m., roughly two hours after the initial call. The station's report indicates the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
While crews worked the scene, the road was blocked off, per WSET. The Roanoke Fire Department has said about 30 people were displaced as a result of the fire, though the exact number of apartment units affected has not been detailed.
Conflicting Reports on Injuries
Multiple outlets, including WFXR, reported that no injuries were sustained in the fire. However, a separate report from Cedar News stated it remained unclear whether there were any injuries or deaths connected to the blaze. Officials have not yet publicly reconciled the two accounts.
Echoes of a Previous Roanoke Fire
Sunday's blaze follows a similar incident at another Roanoke apartment building, where a fire sent two people to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and left 18 residents displaced, according to WFXR. In that earlier fire, crews responded at 4:39 a.m. to the 3700 block of Southway Drive SW, and the response was also upgraded to two alarms before firefighters fully extinguished the flames by 6 a.m. Two cats were rescued from that building, while another cat was found dead, the station reported.
No further details on shelter arrangements or property damage from Sunday's fire at Countryside Estates have been released. The investigation into what sparked the flames remains ongoing.
