Apartment fire displaces two
By John Joyce
Published in News on December 15, 2015 1:46 PM
A fire in a second-story apartment displaced one resident and forced another out of the apartment below due to water damage Monday, the Goldsboro Fire Department said.
The fire broke out at the Laurel Pointe Apartments, 660 E. New Hope Road, at about noon.
Goldsboro Assistant Fire Chief Eric Lancaster said the fire started on the back patio, but the cause remained undetermined.
"In the whole building there are eight apartments, four at the top, four on the bottom. It has displaced the one on the bottom because, of course, the water has run down, and we had to pull their meter because of possible electric issues," Lancaster said.
No injuries were reported.
"That's a great thing. It is always a good day when you can report no injuries," he said.
Fire got into the attic and threatened to spread to the other apartments. Lancaster said the firefighters did an excellent job attacking the fire quickly and knocking it down.
"We could have lost the whole building," he said.
An investigation later confirmed the origin of the fire was in one corner of the patio on the upper apartment, but an area where cigarettes were being put out in a pot only suggested a possible ignition source.
"We didn't have enough to say that it was," Lancaster said. "But listing the cause as undetermined gives a little bit of leeway so that if any new evidence is ever found in the case, they can go back and change it," he said.
Apartment manager Dori Smith said she had not yet seen the fire report, but she was able to confirm there were no injuries.
"We will wait for the report then we will go from there," she said. The apartment complex does not require tenants to have renters insurance.
The apartment complex, built about 15 years ago, is managed by a corporation based out of Raleigh, she said.
The damage, based on an estimate of structural damage and lost contents in the two apartments, is listed on the report at $61,000.