A large fire tore through the 2700 At Homewood Apartments on Temple Crest Drive in Birmingham's Glen Iris neighborhood Tuesday night, marking the second blaze to hit the complex in just two months. Firefighters arrived to find flames visible through the roof of a vacant building, and no injuries were reported.
ABC 3340 reported on the fire. Birmingham Fire and Rescue was dispatched at 8:35 p.m. Tuesday. Multiple fire crews converged on the property before 9 p.m., as reported by WBRC. The fire was brought under control at approximately 11:50 p.m., and additional firefighting crews were called in to help manage the scene.
Firefighters battled the flames at the property. The affected units were unoccupied at the time, and officials confirmed no injuries resulted from the blaze. Crews were expected to continue rotating through the property Wednesday to check for hot spots.
Earlier Fire Destroyed 14 Units
What makes Tuesday's fire especially jarring for residents is that it was at the same complex as the Aug. 9 fire, according to ABC 3340. That earlier fire destroyed 14 units and was reported under control by 5:30 p.m. before being fully extinguished by 10:30 p.m., according to AL.com. As with Tuesday's fire, no one was injured in August, though multiple residents from nearby apartments had to be evacuated, AL.com reported.
Twenty residents were displaced by the August fire, according to WBRC, and dozens of people were forced from their homes in the aftermath, according to WVTM 13. Those 14 units have remained empty since the August blaze, meaning the structure that burned Tuesday night was sitting vacant well before the new fire broke out.
Cause Still Unresolved for Both Fires
Investigators have not established a cause for either fire. An initial report suggested lightning may have sparked the August blaze, but officials later said there was no evidence to support that theory, according to AL.com. The cause of the August fire has not been established, and the same holds true for Tuesday night's incident, per ABC 3340's reporting.
For residents at 2700 At Homewood, the back-to-back fires at the complex leave unanswered questions about what sparked either blaze. Firefighters remained on scene into Wednesday, continuing to check for hot spots as the investigation into both fires continues, as AL.com reported.
