News

Actions

‘A car just blew up’: Henrico apartments evacuated after fiery explosion

Posted at 6:15 AM, Apr 06, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-06 09:28:50-04

HENRICO COUNTY, Va - Firefighters and police officers evacuated a Henrico apartment complex Friday morning due to a car fire next to the building.

When firefighters arrived around 4:40 a.m. to the Audubon Village Apartments on Wood Thrush Circle they found the car fully engulfed in flames.

David Morris, who owns the 2014 Hyundai Elantra, woke up to a loud boom and then rushed to his mother's room.

"I looked out of her window and saw the fire, so I called the fire department," Morris remembered. "I don't have a car anymore. But like my mother said, luckily I wasn't in it."

The flames that shot into the air melted the siding off the nearby building.

First responders feared the flames would endanger the families sleeping inside.

Henrico Police officers, who were first to arrive, ran to each apartment knocking on doors in order to wake people up.

The Elantra, which was once red, is now unrecognizable as it sits charred in the complex's parking lot.

Morris said he drove his car the night before and didn't notice any issues. He lost several pairs of shoes that he left inside.

The Fire Marshal will determine a cause of the fire. No one was injured.

Residents were allowed back inside their apartments sometime after 5 a.m.