Fueled by high winds and dry conditions, fire ripped through three buildings in Crossgates Apartments Tuesday evening, leaving one firefighter injured and sending smoke billowing high into the sky above Starkville.
Oktibbeha Red Cross Director Becky Wilkes said 31 people lost their homes in the blaze.
The firefighter was injured when ammunition in one of the apartments went off in the fire; a bullet fragment struck him in the upper chest, Starkville Fire Department Chief Rodger Mann said. The firefighter, who Mann did not identify, wasn”t seriously injured and did not require hospital treatment. Two other firefighters suffered minor foot and lower-leg injuries, Mann said. No deaths were reported.
“I just think it”s sad because a lot of the people who are in these buildings are students and they lost all their belongings,” said MSU student Sylvia Harmon of Jackson, who had just moved into nearby Building 29 Tuesday and was shaken by the incident. “Where are they going to stay for school? Oh, lord, it”s hard.”
The fire started around 6 p.m. in Building 19 and quickly spread to buildings 20 and 21. Nearby Building 18 also received heat damage.
The blazes were extinguished by about 10 p.m., but not before buildings 19, 20 and 21 were destroyed. Each of the buildings contained eight two-bedroom apartments. Their charred remains were still smoking this morning.
Firefighters worked through the night to extinguish hot spots.
Fire officials still have not determined a cause of the blaze, Mann said, but it appears to be accidental.
The Oktibbeha County chapter of the American Red Cross placed three families in motels last night, and was working today to find shelter for more. The agency was also providing vouchers for food and clothing.
The Red Cross was working Tuesday night to put residents in motels in Eupora and Louisville because most of the motels in Starkville were full, Wilkes said.
The complex, located on the west side of town at 1087 Stark Road, has more than 30 buildings and is popular with Mississippi State University students.
Meredith Spera, an MSU student from New Jersey and resident of nearby Building 17, said she was letting her dog out when she noticed flames in the bushes outside Building 19. The blaze was small at first, she said, and people were using fire extinguishers to try to put it out. But it quickly grew.
“It just got too big, too quick,” Spera said. “The flames were shooting like 20 feet out the top of the building.”
As Building 19 went up in flames, the fire started to spread across a grassy area toward Building 18 and jumped approximately 50 feet across the parking lot to buildings 20 and 21, she said.
“The wind was just ridiculous,” Spera said.
Firefighters from Starkville and Oktibbeha County arrived on the scene, residents were evacuated, and power in the entire complex was shut off. Hundreds of residents milled about the parking lot, awaiting more news and watching the spectacle. One witness said a pet cat might have died in one building.
The Starkville Board of Aldermen meeting Tuesday evening was cut short due to the fire. Police Chief David Lindley was called out of the meeting with news of the blaze, then returned and gestured for the fire chief to join him outside.
Lindley then returned again and, after the public appearances portion of the meeting, informed aldermen of the blaze, saying it had spread to multiple buildings and fire officials weren”t sure if people were trapped inside. The board took a brief recess and a handful of people in attendance rushed outside to make phone calls.
Aldermen then returned to the meeting and voted to recess until April 13 at 5:30 p.m. in the Sportsplex. Mayor Parker Wiseman and Ward 2 Alderwoman Sandra Sistrunk rushed to scene, as did aldermen Roy A. Perkins and Henry Vaughn Sr. The group was briefed by fire officials.
Erika Beals and Julie Lowery, neighbors in nearby Building 17, stood in the grass outside their building and watched as firefighters doused the three fire-ravaged buildings into the night.
“It got out of hand really quick,” Beals recalled.
“It was so fast,” Lowery agreed.
Donations for the victims can be made to the Red Cross and designated for the Crossgates fire victims.
The Oktibbeha County Red Cross is located at 100 Felix Long Drive, Starkville. Donations also can be dropped off at City Hall.
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