CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — More than 40 people are without a home and most of their belongings after a large early-morning fire destroyed a Chester apartment building Thursday.
“I was woken up by banging on the door, and the next thing I know, I looked over and the window was completely orange, like giant flame," said Kayla Emanuel-Rios who had only lived at the Waterside at Iron Bridge Apartments for six months.
"Everything's gone," she shared. "It's covered in water, smoke damage. I'm just blessed that we made it that nobody was severely injured. Things are replaceable. People are not."
She and other renters, like Bobbi Williams, escaped before the roof and stairs of the three story building collapsed.
"We watched them fall, we heard them crumble," Williams explained. "And I was just like, what in the world."
Chesterfield Fire Chief Edward Senter said his crews got to the scene 7 minutes after they received a call for a fire at 1:55 a.m. They rescued dozens of people out of windows and off balconies.
"Firefighters mounted an aggressive attack to try to reach as many occupants as they could, and they went with ground ladders rescued a number of occupants," said Senter.
"They did a great job," Williams expressed. "They put it out as quickly as they could, like it didn't spread any further. They got some of it saved, but they did what they could, and they made it out safe too, which is awesome."
In addition to firefighters, Williams and Emanuel-Rios say a young man went door to door reaching every unit to make sure people knew they needed to get out.
"He is an angel," Williams said. "He saved a lot of people. Like, there's probably people that were sleeping that didn't even know this was happening. I know one of my neighbors. He works night shifts, so he was asleep.”
While fire officials say two people were injured, and one of them was taken to the hospital, everyone is expected to be okay.
"It's not the way you want to meet your neighbors, but it was good that we all kind of got to come together," shared Emanuel-Rios.
The Red Cross is assisting these 44 neighbors with finding a place to stay.
Meanwhile, the Chesterfield Fire Marshal’s Office is still working to determine the cause of the fire.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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