RICHMOND, Va. — A woman and a man were injured in a two-alarm fire at the Reserve South apartment complex on Richmond's Southside early Thursday morning.
Richmond firefighters found heavy smoke coming from the first floor of one of the buildings on Carnation Street when they arrived to the scene just after midnight.
The woman has life-threatening injuries and the man has serious injuries after the fire, officials said.
The fire is still under investigation.
The Red Cross is assisting nine residents that have been displaced because of the fire.
One neighbor, Alecia Mannings, lives in this building where the fire happened and said she smelled smoke around midnight, but didn’t hear any smoke alarms. She said the smell got so strong she walked outside of her apartment to see what was going on and saw flames across the breezeway.
She immediately woke up her sister, and they got out by climbing over their porch..
“When I walked out here, they said that a man jumped from the second floor, and then they had to drag a lady out of the first apartment that caught on fire," said Mannings.
Mannings and her sister were able to go back into their apartment to gather some of their belongings. But Mannings said she hopes they'll be back in their apartment soon.
Her message for others: "Check your fire detectors, and just always be conscious of what’s going on around you.”
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
