To Close For Maggi

Sprinkler systems would have made a big difference, the Raleigh fire marshal says

...They all started on the outside, and none of the buildings had sprinkler systems in the attic. Sprinkler systems in the apartment and townhouse attics would have made a difference, Styons said...

...Sunday's fire at the Wildwoods of Lake Johnson apartment complex, 1201 Trillium Circle, was caused by faulty wiring in a storage area attached to a second-floor apartment. The fire displaced 21 residents.

..."Isn't this amazing? This is just very unusual," Sherry Mitchell, a Red Cross spokeswoman, said Monday. By late Monday afternoon, Red Cross disaster officials had provided food, clothing and hotel rooms for 18 people displaced by Sunday's fire at Wildwoods of Lake Johnson.

When firefighters arrived around 10:30 p.m., fire had engulfed half the structure. A sheet-rock fire wall helped keep the fire from spreading into the other half of the building, said Division Chief Rusty Styons of the Raleigh Fire Department. Firefighters were able to salvage some personal belongings in the damaged units, but were not able to safely enter every unit, he said.

No one was injured in the fire, but the blaze heavily damaged or destroyed six apartments. The other six units in the building had minor smoke damage, Rusty Styons said.

Will Howie, who graduated from N.C. State last year, said neighbors knocked on the door of his first floor apartment about 10:30 p.m., and he went out to try and stop the fire on the second floor with a fire extinguisher. He called 911 after he was unable to put the fire out.

"I knocked the flames back, but initially they were just too much. If I had had another extinguisher, maybe," Howie said.

Howie's apartment suffered water and smoke damage, but he made sure to save his "Labradoodle" dog, Jack, his computer and his N.C. State hat.

Link to Video Report

Raleigh News & Observer
Published: Sep 18, 2007 12:30 AM
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Maggi and Dusti's apartment building was one street over from this 4 alarm fire.