Lexington apartment fire damages four units, displaces two families
Two families are searching for new places to stay after a fire at the Bourbon Court Apartment Complex on Augusta Court Thursday, according to the Lexington Fire Department.
Four units in total were damaged by the fire, said Battalion Chief Steve Austin. Two of the units were occupied and the other two were vacant, including the unit where the fire originated, which was on the ground level.
All the occupants evacuated before firefighters arrived and no injuries were reported, Austin said.
The fire was first reported at roughly 1:15 p.m. When firefighters arrived, they found smoke and flames coming from one unit, Austin said.
The fire was quickly knocked down, as crews could be seen wrapping up their hose lines less than an hour after the fire was reported.
The unit where the fire started suffered heavy damage while the other three received minor damage, according to the fire department.
Three other units were impacted by the fire. Firefighters had to cut holes in walls connecting the other units to search for hidden fire.
Michelle Webb, who lived in one of the three other units, is now looking for a new place to stay for herself and her three sons. She lived on the second floor directly above the unit where the fire originated.
Webb thinks the fire might have something to do with squatters who took advantage of the vacant apartment. She said she’s seen squatters go in and out of the unit when she comes home from work late at night.
“They come and live in those apartments. I’ve been telling them at the office they need to come down and board these apartments up,” Webb said. “They didn’t do that, so now my apartment is damaged for someone else’s mistake downstairs.”
Webb, who had not yet heard from management roughly one hour after the fire, said she has nowhere to go and is angry that her apartment was damaged by the fire.
“I lost everything in my apartment. Everything,” Webb said.
Austin could not confirm nor deny the report of squatters, but said that does not look to be the case.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
