A five-alarm fire, which ignited overnight at a six-story apartment building under construction in the Raleigh, North Carolina on Thursday night (March 16), has been extinguished.
Local authorities have organized shelters for those, who have displaced by the blaze. There were no reports about casualties or those trapped in the building.
Chief John Fanning of the Raleigh Fire Department Division, said that "This is the biggest fire that I have ever seen in such a condensed area," Fanning said in his 24 years of experience.
"It was massive. It looked like the entire block was one fire," a downtown business owner and resident named Patrick said.
Downtown #raleighfire pic.twitter.com/pTMKcOijJr
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More than 130 firefighters responded to the growing blaze.
By 1 am, the fire appeared to be under control. Firefighters still sprayed the burnt structure with water to extinguish any hot spots.
"Continue to wet it so that we don't have anything rekindle," Fanning said. "Usually a rekindle is worse than the original start."
As crews continue to monitor the structure, Hillborugh Street is currently closed in both the directions at W Morgan and N Dawson streets.
"They immediately tried to put water on it, but as they approached they noticed it was a lot of heavy fire," Raleigh Fire Department Assistant Chief Brad Harvey said. "Especially under construction. The wood is not protected and the fire moves very rapidly. We're very fortunate tonight."
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