CHESAPEAKE, Va. — A large fire tore through an apartment building in Chesapeake’s Great Bridge neighborhood Friday afternoon, forcing evacuations and leaving more than a dozen residents without a home.
Emergency dispatchers received multiple 911 calls around 1:17 p.m. reporting a fire at the Great Bridge Apartments, officials said. Firefighters arrived three minutes later to find heavy smoke and flames coming from a two-story building.
Crews, alongside Chesapeake Police officers, began door-to-door evacuations as additional firefighters deployed multiple hoselines to attack the blaze.
Watch: Rookie Chesapeake firefighter discusses fighting his first big fire at Great Bridge Apartments
The fire spread quickly through the attic, prompting crews to shift to a defensive operation. Firefighters used water from an elevated master stream on a ladder truck until conditions improved enough for them to re-enter the building. The fire was brought under control at 2:46 p.m.
One adult man suffered a medical emergency during the incident. Firefighters treated him on scene before he was transported to a hospital for evaluation.
“For a fire of this magnitude, we want to check in it every couple of hours. The last thing we want to do is have that fire reignite sometime overnight. So we’ll make a few visits overnight and then it will be up to the fire investigators to determine whether they need to come back and revisit the scene during the daylight," Chesapeake Fire Department Capt. Steven Bradley said.
Eight apartment units were heavily damaged — some by fire and smoke, others by water — displacing 14 adults, officials said. Property management is working with the American Red Cross to arrange temporary housing and assistance for affected tenants.
Fire Marshals are investigating the cause of the fire.
