According to Fox 28, Columbus firefighters say a fire that ignited in a first-floor townhome quickly spread to seven others Saturday morning, eventually destroying an entire building at the Vista at Rocky Fork residences.
Four families are now homeless after six of the townhome units were destroyed. Two others were heavily damaged. Every resident escaped the building and was accounted for by 4:30 a.m.
The fire broke out around 1:00 a.m., and video provided to ABC 6/FOX 28 by the Mifflin Township Division of Fire showed flames shooting from the roof, eaves and windows in the 300 block of Vista Drive as the first crews arrived.
“It spread from the original unit, up into the attic, then dropped down through the attic and affected all the additional units as well,” said deputy fire chief Jeff Wright.
Two other nearby buildings had melted siding and charred exterior walls from the heat of the fire, but they survived. Residents returned to those buildings later in the morning.
“It would have been very easy with that amount of heat getting on those buildings, to have this spread to additional buildings. But we were able to prevent that,” said Wright.
The Red Cross said it was helping one of the displaced families with housing. Three other affected families are staying with nearby family or friends.
Investigators remained on the scene throughout Saturday morning, trying to determine a cause.
