Fire gutted the six-unit apartment building and damaged another home in the Poplar Lawn neighborhood, leaving 14 people to find shelter from the chilly night air.
The cause of the blaze is being investigated.
"It walked the dog," said Capt. E.P. Jackson of the Petersburg Bureau of Fire, describing the flames which crept along the upper floor of the brick and white-sided two-story structure.
The fire appeared originally to be in the front portion of the corner building, which features a storefront and a connected homefront with two entry doors from the porch. As firefighters battled the flames from the ground, on ladders and with water cannons, the fire would rage on in a new area of the structure.
Smoke filled the city streets as water blasted through windows to douse the flames. As the smoke cleared, an orange glow from the spreading fire would appear in a new window upstairs. A significant portion of the roof caved in during the height of the blaze.
"It's still not yet under control. There are just too many hot spots," Jackson said nearly three hours after crews arrived on the scene.
The fire broke out just before 1 a.m. at the corner of South Sycamore and Mars streets. Fire companies and emergency units from throughout the Tri-Cities tended to the blaze and traffic was rerouted around the area as Sycamore Street was closed.
"Prince George, Chesterfield, and Colonial Heights are here," Jackson said of the assistance city firefighters received in taming the blaze. "There's roughly 40 people working here. I have 25 from my shift, Colonial Heights had five. Prince George, I have no idea (how many firefighters). Chesterfield has four."
Many of those working the fire were still on the scene more than three hours after the fire was reported. Crews were examining the roof line for smoldering materials in an effort to prevent any flare-ups.
Residents were quickly escorted from the building by police when the fire was discovered. Jackson said he was unaware of any injuries.
The Red Cross has stepped in to assist victims of the blaze, who will be unable to return to their residences for some time.
"We make sure they have a place to stay or we put them up in a motel," said Ted Jonas, director of Disaster Services for the Southside Area Chapter of the American Red Cross. "We give them vouchers so they can get things like shoes, clothes and groceries. If necessary, we'll replace their prescription medications."
Jonas said that children were among those roused from their beds to flee the building.
"The last numbers I had were that we are assisting 10 adults and four children," Jonas said.
Adjacent to the apartment house was another home, which appeared to be vacant. It suffered some minimal damage.
"There is some fire and fire-control damage," Jackson said. "Our crew was using it as a platform to battle the fire in the other building."
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