CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Dozens of emergency vehicles rushed to Virginia Street in Charleston Tuesday evening to attend to a fire at the Cavalier Apartment building.
Cavalier Apartments is owned by Patriot Services Group West Virginia, the same company that owned the Regal Apartment building that saw a major fire last year.
Dispatchers received the call just before 5:30 for the apartment building in the 1300 block of Virginia Street East.
Charleston Fire Department Captain David Hodges says when his crews arrived, the fire was visible from the outside.
“Crews arrived, there was visible fire from the outside with significant amount of smoke showing through the building from the third floor,” Hodges said Tuesday evening. “Immediately went to work, made entry and the fire was quickly contained. We forced entry in multiple apartments just to make sure and check for exposures.”
Hodges says the fire was enough to do damage, but no one was injured on the scene.
“No one injured,” Hodges said. “Four apartments are going to be displaced and we are working with the Red Cross on taking care of that and facilitating their needs,” Hodges said.
Hodges also stated that all tenants got out of the facility on their own willpower.
Candace Facemyer, a Virginia Street resident, also got a peek of the fire. She says the fire alarm going off at Cavalier Apartments is not uncommon, but this fire was more severe than she has seen.
“I pulled up in my car right as the fire alarm was going off, which is a regular occurrence at that building,” Facemyer said. “Then I saw people coming out, and you could see smoke coming from the third floor.”
Facemyer added that the apartment complex is notorious for having fire alarms go off on a regular basis.
“The fire alarm goes off in that building at least twice a week, or more than that,” Facemyer said.
Facemyer also got a chance to get close to the scene at one point, and said flames were visible.
“I walked around to the back of the alley because you could see the smoke coming more from the back of the building,” Facemyer said. “Residents told me that they did see flames coming out.”
Hodges says that when evacuating tenants, there is always panic in the moment.
“Obviously it’s a panic, people are afraid they’re going to lose their property or lose their belongings,” Hodges said. “We do face those as we’re trying to make entry.
Hodges stated that the level of panic from residents did not hamper his crews on Tuesday evening.
There is currently no known cause of the fire. An investigation is ongoing.