PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. – UPDATE
"I was in the living room watching TV. I smelled smoke," apartment complex resident Harley Greve said as the apartment complex continued to burn behind him.
That smoke quickly became a raging inferno at an apartment complex on Wilkerson Road that forced Greve, his mother and several other people out into the cold around 3 a.m.
"My mom was asleep when I went in her room, which is where the smoke was coming from. A bed was on fire, so I freaked out a little bit, but I reacted, too, and got her out of the bed and got her out of the house as fast as I could," Greve said. "Then, I was trying to put it out. I tried water, then I started fanning it down with a blanket. That's how I burned my hand."
The smoke became so thick he couldn't breathe, so he had no choice but to get out.
"I saved my Xbox. That's all I could grab," Greve said.
Another resident, Joshua Arthur, said Greve came and knocked on his door and alerted him to the fire.
"I laid in bed until my mom came and got me and told me something was going on. I was still waking up at the time. I pulled my pants on, went and looked outside, and saw the apartment across the way, flames spewing out the window and the front door," Arthur recalled.
Firefighters from five county volunteer fire departments rushed to the scene, but Ringgold Fire Chief Mike Neal said they couldn't get down the driveway leading up to the complex.
It was washed out by Tropical Storm Michael last month and was still being repaired Sunday.
"We had to come around on Williams Drive and sort of make a pass through a back dirt road to get in here," Neal explained.
To make matters worse, they're initial water supply wasn't enough to put out the fire.
"We ran out of water having to make an alternate route to get in here," said Neal.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation late Sunday morning.
UPDATE
Two people were injured during the fire in Ringgold on Sunday morning. According to the Ringgold fire chief, the two were treated for burns on their hands. They were burned while trying to beat the fire out on a bed inside the apartment with a blanket.
Firefighters were called to the scene around 3 a.m. Five local fire departments responded to the scene.
The fire has been extinguished, but crews remain on scene.
The Red Cross will assist at least a dozen people displaced by the fire.
According to firefighters, before the building was converted into apartments, it was previously owned by Dan River Mills and was used as a corporate resort facility.
The cause of the fire is unknown.
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ORIGINAL STORY
Fire crews are on the scene of an apartment fire at the 200 block of Wilkerson Road in Ringgold, just outside of Danville.
Intense, high flames can be seen coming from the building. Multiple fire crews are on scene. It's unclear what started the fire or if there are any injuries.
10 News reporter Colter Anstaett is there. We are working to get more information.