PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — No injuries were reported after a fire that completely engulfed a building on Florida Avenue in Portsmouth.
“I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it,” said neighbor Patricia Warren. “I was sort of shocked, because I mean it was close to home, it could’ve just spread.”
Fire officials say they were notified about the fire at 2:40 a.m. Tuesday in the 700 block of Florida Avenue. They arrived to find the two-story building engulfed in flames.
“My wife woke me up,” said neighbor Leo Davis. “I came in the back and saw that it was on fire. The fire department was back there.”
The fire was marked under control at 3:01 a.m., but fire officials said heavy equipment needed to be brought in to remove debris before it can be completely extinguished.
“It was popping and crackling and the roof, once the roof fell that’s when they started to put it out,” neighbor Timothy Sykes said.
There were several buildings exposed to the fire on the Douglas Avenue side of the building, but the fire didn’t spread to other structures.
“I got woken up at 2:30 with my momma knocking on my door saying the house behind our house was on fire. That’s when I went out of the side door and you could feel the heat from the fire,” said Sykes. “I was hoping that the cars in the back or our house weren’t on fire because it was so close to the back of our house. It just did a little bit of damage to the backside and then burnt the tail lights on the two cars in the back.”
“Luckily the fire departments got here in time, nobody got hurt because someone could’ve definitely gotten hurt,” Davis said.
There are no other details, but the fire is under investigation by the Portsmouth Fire Marshal’s Office.
Stay tuned to WAVY.com for updates.
