Candle Causes Apartment Fire; Dozens Homeless

Cause determined in an Greenville apartment fire that left dozens of people are homeless.

By: Chris Cato | News Channel 7
Published: July 05, 2009

**Update 1:30 p.m.** <\strong>

The Wade Hampton Fire Department tells NewsChannel 7 the fire was started by a candle in one of the apartments.

The Upstate Chapter of the American Red Cross has caseworkers working with families to determine their immediate, disaster-caused needs. The Red Cross is assisting over 40 individuals with lodging arrangements and food, clothing and the replacement of necessary medications.

**Sunday morning**
Four people were taken to the hospital and dozens of people are homeless after a large fire gutted an apartment building in Greenville early Sunday morning.
The fire broke out around 3:30am at Hampton Forest Apartment Homes on Wade Hampton Boulevard. The fire started in a first floor unit of building A. The cause is still under investigation, but witnesses say a resident fell asleep with a lit cigarette, igniting the fire, which spread quickly through the two-story structure.

Wade Hampton Fire Chief David Bailey says all residents got out safely, though four had to be taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation and minor burns, including a man inside the unit where the fire originated.

Shane Gillespie says he jumped from his second-floor balcony to escape the heavy smoke.

"I tried to go down the stairwell, but the smoke was just too thick," says Gillespie, "so I threw my dog off the balcony to a neighbor standing below, then I jumped."

He says another man who jumped from a balcony was injured when he landed on his back.

"He was hurting. I carried him over to the medics when they got here," says Gillespie.

No firefighters were injured, but the chief says they had a close call when a wall collapsed in the intense flames.

"We had to retreat quickly", says Bailey.

As of 5:30am, firefighters were still mopping up hotspots and had not been able to go in to investigate the cause of the fire.

The apartment manager says building A consists of 40 units. Several were destroyed and most of them have smoke damage. She says most of the units were occupied and the residents will be placed in temporary housing until they can find new apartments. She says all of them have renter's insurance because management requires it.