Sanford apartment fire: Crews rescue residents in wheelchairs, bring in extra water after main break
Everyone inside a downtown Sanford apartment building made it out safely after a fire broke out Friday morning.
The fire department got the call just before 7 a.m. The WRAL live cam in Sanford showed smoke billowing out of the Sanford Makepeace Apartments building at the corner of Moore Street.
WRAL News was told the fire started on the second floor. There were at least four fire trucks and two ambulances lining the street as crews worked to put out the fire.
WRAL spoke with the building manager, Jeanie Miller, who said the fire department told her the suspected cause was an air conditioning unit.
"I saw smoke coming from my elevator, and I live about a mile away," she said. "It was bad looking."
Before the fire started, Sanford fire crews were working to control a water main break in downtown Sanford. This caused the water to be shut off in the area.
The fire department had to set up a large container with extra water.
Fire crews were working out of a balcony that appears to be on the second floor of the building.
WRAL News was told that 25 people reside in the building. Miller said the building houses the elderly and people with disabilities. Luckily, everyone got out safely.
Kent Thomas, a resident in a wheelchair, said firefighters were able to help get him out of the building.
"I didn't have time to grab anything," Thomas said. "They were like, you've got to go now. I wanted to go back and get a couple of things, you know, clothing, car keys, wallet and phone. But I'm gonna make it work. I'm gonna get through it."
Miller said fire crews have trained at the apartment building before, so they knew the building very well. She said that’s one of the reasons everyone was able to make it out safely.
"They knew my building like the back of their hand," she said. "They did awesome."
You can see several windows that crews had to break in order to get to the second-floor fire.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
