Fire displaces 28 residents from senior-living complex in downtown Raleigh

Twenty-eight people were displaced by a fire that started on the ninth floor of a high-rise apartment building in downtown Raleigh, officials said.

It’s not clear what caused the Friday afternoon fire at Glenwood Towers, a 14-story federally subsidized apartment complex that is home to nearly 300 low-income, elderly residents in the Glenwood South neighborhood.

But the blaze was accidental, according to an incident report from the Raleigh Fire Department.

Six people were taken to the hospital Friday to be treated for symptoms of smoke inhalation or asthma, said Sonia Anderson, special assistant to the Raleigh Housing Authority, which manages the building.

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About 100 Raleigh firefighters responded to reports of a fire just before 1 p.m., according to the fire department report. The fire was under control by 1:48 p.m.

When they arrived, firefighters evacuated residents who live on the seventh through 14th floors, said Jeff Hammerstein, assistant chief of Wake County Emergency Medical Services. Those residents were sent to the Saint Saviour’s Center next door.

“One of the challenges was we had to evacuate quite a few people and evaluate everyone to see if anyone needed further medical care,” Hammerstein said.

The incident report says the building, which was constructed in 1971, does not have a sprinkler system.

The smell of smoke lingered in the wet air Friday. Part of the building’s brick exterior was marred with soot, and some window panes on the ninth floor were gone.

Chester Holden, 66, said he has lived at Glenwood Towers for 19 years. He said he was in his eighth-floor apartment when he heard a noise from above.

“It sounded like wood falling,” Holden said. “I went in the bedroom, looked out the window and saw all that smoke up top of me.”

Joan Davis, 70, was wearing a pink bathrobe over her clothes outside the building, where she has lived for 25 years. She said she was making potato salad and was about to cut up a chicken when one of her friends, Terry Stephens, told her to get out.

At first, Davis said, she didn’t believe there was really a fire. But her friend was adamant.

“I told her, ‘Yes this is real,’” said Stephens, 56.

Stephens knocked on more doors, she said, and saw smoke on the ninth floor.

“I panicked and started screaming,” she said. “I was knocking on doors yelling, ‘Y’all please get out!’ It was bad.”

This story was originally published October 26, 2018 at 1:22 PM.