Apartment Building, Residential

Norfolk, VA – No injuries in off-campus apartment fire at Old Dominion University contained by sprinklers

A total of 198 people were displaced Monday after a fire at The District apartment complex near Old Dominion University. There were no injuries , Fire-Rescue spokesman Bill Tull said, but a section of the building where the fire took place was shut down for the night.

When firefighters got to the complex on 39th Street in midafternoon, Tull said, they encountered smoke on the fourth floor. He said a small pan of food had caught fire in one of the units, activating the sprinkler system. Water pooled on the fourth floor and flowed down into the lower floors, Tull said. It also reached the complex’s electrical system, and occupants were evacuated.

Firefighters were trying to mitigate water damage, and officials were evaluating the damage overall. The District also called in its electrical contractor.

Fire-Rescue personnel were helping residents retrieve personal items until enough security personnel could take over.

Jalen Ford, maintenance technician for The District, said residents were either being moved to vacant rooms in the complex or sent to the Marriott on ODU’s campus. Ford said he didn’t know when residents would be able to return to their rooms.

“It shouldn’t be days or weeks,” he said. “As soon as they get the water out, they’re just making sure everything electrical is working, there’s no water in the electrical systems, and just making sure all the residents are safe. So as soon as they get all the water out, everything should be back to normal.”

An ODU spokesman and officials at the Marriott declined to comment on the relocation efforts.

 

Veronica Lyell, a senior at ODU, said she lived next door to the fourth-floor unit where the fire occurred.