STARKVILLE — Sixteen people safely evacuated an apartment fire at Brookville Gardens on Monday morning.
Starkville Fire Department reached the scene at 7:34 a.m.; firefighters found two of four apartments in building No. 25 engulfed by flames and smoke.
The 16 residents were out of the two-story complex by the time the SFD arrived. SFD Chief Rodger Mann said the fire was under control by 9 a.m.
The fire started on the first floor after a curtain or sheet got caught in a window-unit heater. The fire spread to the second floor, which received the most damage, Mann said.
The apartments also received heavy smoke damage and water damage from plastic pipes that melted during the fire.
“We’re getting into that time of year where we’ve got warm days, then cold days,” Mann said. “Of course, we’ve got to be more vigilant to beds being pushed up against heaters and things like that.”
The complex, built in the 1960s, contained two- and three-bedroom apartments. Management for the apartment complex could not be reached for comment this morning.
Structurally, Mann said, the complex may not be a total loss.
The Northeast Mississippi Chapter of the American Red Cross is providing hotel rooms for three nights and assistance with food and personal items for the residents.
Red Cross Media Relations Representative Selena Standifer said the agency responded Monday to five fire calls in its 17-county area.
The building is one of several in Brookville Gardens that does not have a sprinkler system. Last year, the Board of Aldermen amended an ordinance requiring all apartments and condominiums to have sprinkler systems.
In a four-month span from 2009-10, fires at Campus Trails, Crossgates and Academy Crossing displaced dozens. Nine people died in the Academy Crossing fire, the deadliest in modern Mississippi history.
Mann said it would be unfair to make any connection with recent apartment fires because each started differently. He said the SFD communicates annually with owners and managers of each city apartment complex to help safeguard against fires.
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