Fire struck another large Starkville apartment complex Sunday morning, destroying two buildings and leaving an unknown number of residents homeless. No one was believed killed or injured in the blaze, officials said.
Starkville firefighters received a call at 10:21 a.m. of a fire at Campus Trails Apartments, at 100 Campus View Drive, off Blackjack Road near the Mississippi State University campus.
The fire started on the third floor of Building A in the large complex of 20 or so buildings. The fire quickly spread to Building B, completely destroying the roofs and first two floors of each building.
“Once it went up in flames, it didn”t take long to spread over,” said Serena Prendergast, 19, a biology major at MSU who lived on the third floor of Building A. Each building houses 12 apartments.
Prendergast said that she smelled smoke and went to tell her roommate, when someone knocked on her door and said, “Get out, the building”s on fire.”
She watched as the fire spread between buildings, collapsing both roofs.
“The feeling you”ve lost everything is kind of overwhelming, but it”s just stuff, I guess,” she said.
Fire officials said Building A had burned down some years ago, and had been rebuilt.
“It”s deja vu all over again,” said A.K. Rosenhan, fire services coordinator for Oktibbeha County.
City and county fire departments responded to the fire. Water to fight the blaze had to be trucked in to the complex, as fire hydrants at the complex did not have sufficient pressure, officials said.
Officials at the scene would not speculate as to how the fire started.
The fire was the second at a large Starkville apartment complex in a matter of days. On April 6, an unknown person who tossed a cigarette into dry pine straw caused a fire at Crossgates Apartments, destroying three three buildings and damaging four others. About 50 people were displaced by that fire. No one was injured seriously.
In late December, the deadliest fire in modern Mississippi history claimed the lives of nine people at the Academy Crossing complex in Starkville.
Allison Ouren, 20, a member of the MSU soccer team and Prendergast”s roomate, said that she was “in shock” as she watched firefighters fight the blaze Sunday.
“Honestly, it”s whatever right now,” she said. “I haven”t cried. I”m just making a joke about it.”
Check cdispatch.com later today, or read Monday”s print edition of The Dispatch, for more information on this developing story.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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