CHARLOTTE — Multiple people were forced to evacuate their homes in the middle of the night after a three-alarm fire set their apartment complex ablaze early Tuesday morning.
Sixty firefighters responded to the fire which started around 2:30 a.m. at the Oasis at Regal Oaks on English Hills Drive near Albemarle Road, according to Charlotte Fire.
Channel 9’s Eli Brand was on the scene of the fire Tuesday morning and observed extensive damage to the roof of the apartment.
“I was scared,” one resident, Sophia Castillo, said. “I was also worried because I felt the heat coming from my apartment, and I mean, I have never seen that.”
Charlotte Fire said the fire got so bad that they had to call for backup twice.
MEDIC said two people and one small kitten had to be rescued from the building, but no one was transported to the hospital.
One resident said she used to be a volunteer firefighter and was thinking of the people in the building when the flames started.
“You’re not thinking about yourself, you’re thinking about anybody who was in that building,” Linda Wallace said. “Thank God there was no one in there that got hurt.”
Firefighters stayed at the complex for hours putting out hot spots and investigating what happened. For people who live there, they just hope it doesn’t happen again.
“It could have been me,” Castillo said. “That’s what I keep thinking.”
The American Red Cross is responding to the incident to provide support for the 34 people who have been displaced.
Investigators say they are still working to determine the cause of the fire and the full extent of the damages.
This is a developing story. Check back with wsoctv.com for updates.
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