High-rise residents could wait months to go home
THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.
I'M GERALD OWENS.
>> I'M DEBRA MORGAN.
THE
DAMAGE TO THE ONE APARTMENT
BUILDING IS ESTIMATED AT
$12 MILLION.
WRAL DAVID
CRABTREE IS LIVE ON THE
SCENE IN DOWNTOWN RALEIGH.
DAVID.
>>Reporter: AND DEBRA,
RIGHT OVER MY SHOULDER YOU
CAN SEE PART OF THAT
CLEANUP THAT WILL TAKE
MONTHS.
YOU'RE LOOKING AT
A HUGE PIECE OF EQUIPMENT
THAT'S GOING TO BE USED TO
HELP DRY OUT THE YOUTH
CENTER FOR THE ETON STREET
METHODIST CHURCH.
THEY
RECEIVED DAMAGE BECAUSE THE
AMBERS CAUGHT THE ROOF ON
FIRE, BURNING THROUGH THAT
TAR ROOF AND ALLOWING A LOT
OF WATER AND A FEW MINUTES
AGO, THE DAMAGE INSIDE THIS
BUILDING IS FAR MORE
EXTENSIVE THAN THEY THOUGHT
JUST ONE HOUR AGO.
ALL
AROUND THIS PERIMETER, IT'S
CLEANUP TIME AND IT'S A
TIME TO FIND PEOPLE A PLACE
TO LIVE AND TIME TO FIND A
WAY TO GET BUSINESSES
REOPENED, AND NOW WE HAVE A
BETTER IDEA OF WHAT IT
SOUNDED LIKE TO THE POLICE
AND FIRST RESPONDERS LAST
NIGHT WHEN THIS FIRE FIRST
BEGAN.
>> THERE'S PROBABLY ABOUT 6
STORIES.
THE BUILDING IS
HALF BUILT.
IT'S ALL
THICK.
THIS THING IS GOING
TO BE UP AND HUGE.
THE
FLAMES ARE 20 FEET IN THE
AIR.
>> IS IT THE TOP OF THE
BUILDING?
>> IT'S IN THE CENTER OF
THE BUILDING, IT LOOKS LIKE
IT'S AT THE TOP, BUT IT'S
SPREADING QUICK.
THIS IS
THICK --
>> STICK AND EXPOSED
STRUCTURE.
TWO WORDS WE
HAVE HEARD A LOT ABOUT
TODAY AND I THINK WE CAN BE
ASSURED WE'RE GOING TO BE
SURE WE'RE GOING TO HEAR
ABOUT -- IN THE MEANTIME,
ONE OF THE MOST TELLING
PICTURES WE SAW THROUGHOUT
THE NIGHT LAST NIGHT AND
THIS MORNING WAS THE CRANE
THAT WAS BEING USED AT THIS
CONSTRUCTION SITE AND AS IT
FELL ONTO ITS SELF.
EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON, WE
HAD A LOOK AT THAT SCENE.
IT WAS AMAZING AS
ENGINEERING AND
CONSTRUCTION WORKERS BEGAN
TO CLEAR THE AREA SO THEY
COULD CLEAR THE CRANE.
>> RIGHT NOW, IT'S ALMOST
1:30 IN THE AFTERNOON AND
YOU CAN SEE -- ALL THOSE
WINDOWS WERE ON THIS SIDE
OF THE FIRE, SMOKE IS STILL
COMING FROM THE RUINS, AND
YOU CAN SEE THE CRANE
THAT'S ACROSS THE ROAD
HERE.
SEVERAL TONS FALLING
LAST NIGHT.
WE WERE TOLD
EARLIER IT TOOK
TEMPERATURES OF AT LEAST,
FIVE, SIX, 700 DEGREES TO
GET THE STEEL HOT ENOUGH
THAT IT COULD NOT HOLD THE
WEIGHT OF ITSELF.
IT FELL.
ONLY ABOUT 100 FEET A
WAY
FROM THIS APARTMENT
BUILDING.
THE THOUGHT OF
BEING IN THAT BUILDING WITH
THIS CRANE FALLING OR ANY
OF THE OTHER STRUCTURES
AROUND THAT COULD HAVE BEEN
DAMAGED SEVERELY IS
CHILLING.
RIGHT NOW,
THEY'RE WORKING IN THIS
AREA, THEY'RE GOING TO
REMOVE THE CRANE A LITTLE
LATER, AND THEN CONTINUE TO
GO IN AND WORK THE
INSPECTIONS INSIDE THIS
FIRE DAMAGED BUILDING.
THAT APARTMENT BUILDING I
WAS REFERENCING IS KNOWN AS
THE LINK.
IT OPENED A YEAR
AGO.
IT WAS FULL OF
PEOPLE.
THEY WERE ABLE TO
GET OUTLAST NIGHT BECAUSE
THERE WAS A LOT OF DAMAGE
TO IT AS WELL.
250 HOUSING
UNITS, APPROXIMATELY THAT
NUMBER WHERE PEOPLE WERE
LIVING AT THIS TIME
YESTERDAY ARE NOW VACATED
AND THOSE PEOPLE HAVE HAD
-- WRAL AMANDA LAMB JOINS
ME NOW.
YOU HAVE BEEN
WORKING THIS PART OF THE
STORY ALL DAY.
THESE
PEOPLE WERE HELPED LAST
NIGHT.
IT'S GOING TO TAKE
A WHILE EVEN THOUGH THEY
LEFT WITH ONLY THE CLOTHES
ON THEIR BACK AND MAYBE
THEIR PETS.
>>Reporter: IT SURE IS,
DAVID.
WHEN YOU THINK
ABOUT WHEN THIS HAPPENED
AND THE TIME OF NIGHT, A
LOT OF THESE PEOPLE WERE
GETTING READY FOR BED AND
IT'S AMAZING THEY GOT OUT.
THEY GRABBED WHAT THEY
COULD AND THEY RAN OUT AND
ESCAPED FROM THESE
BUILDINGS AND THEY'RE EAGER
TO GET BACK INSIDE, ASSESS
THE DAMAGE AND SEE WHAT'S
LEFT.
>> I KNEW IT WAS ON THE 9th
FLOOR.
IMAGINE LOOKING OUT
YOUR 9th STORY WINDOW AND
SEEING THIS.
>> AND WHEN I LOOKED OUT
THE WINDOW, I WENT OH MY
GOSH.
I SAID WE'VE GOT TO
CALL 911 AND I CALLED.
>> SHERRIE HENDERSON AND
HER HUSBAND SHOT THESE
POWERFUL IMAGES OF THIS
POWER FROM THEIR CONDO.
WHEN THE HEAT CRACKED THEIR
WINDOWS, THEY DECIDED IT
WAS TIME TO GO.
>> I SAID THERE'S NO WAY
THEY'RE GOING TO CONTAIN
THIS FIRE.
>> THE FIRE BLEW OUT THE
WINDOWS IN THE CORAM AND IN
THE LINK APARTMENTS ACROSS
THE STREET.
FIREFIGHTERS
EVACUATED 37 CONDOS AND
MORE THAN 200 APARTMENTS.
>> THE FIRE DEPARTMENT DID
AN EXCELLENT JOB EVACUATING
THE BUILDING.
ALL THE
RESIDENTS WERE EVACUATED
AND ALL THE PETS WERE
EVACUATED, NO INJURIES.
>> THE CORAM'S MANAGEMENT
WANTS TO MAKE SURE IT'S
SAFE WHEN RESIDENTS RETURN
TO PICK UP THEIR
BELONGINGS.
>> THERE'S SHARD OF GLASS
HANGING FROM THE WINDOWS.
THERE'S STANDING WATER ON
THE FLOORS.
>> THE RED CROSS IS
STANDING BY TO HELP ANYONE
AFFECTED BY THE FIRE.
BUT
THE VICTIMS SAY THEY'RE
ALREADY RECEIVING HELP FROM
ONE ANOTHER.
>> WE ALL LOOK OUT FOR EACH
OTHER.
WE CARE A LOT ABOUT
EACH OTHER, AND IT HAS BEEN
REALLY HEART WARMING TO SEE
HOW THIS HAS COME TOGETHER.
>> WE HAVE GOTTEN SOME NEWS
ABOUT WHEN THEY CAN GO BACK
IN.
AT LEAST TO GET SOME
OF THEIR BELONGINGS.
THEY
CAN MEET AT CITY HALL
TOMORROW MORNING AT 8:00.
BRING A BAG AND DAVID AT
THAT TIME, THEY'LL LET THEM
BACK IN THESE BUILDINGS TO
GRAB A FEW THINGS, BUT THE
PRIORITY IS SAFETY, MAKING
SURE THERE'S NOTHING
DANGEROUS FOR THEM TO END
COUNTER WHEN THEY GO BACK
IN THE BUILDINGS.
>> WE'RE STANDING HERE A
COUPLE OF HUNDRED YARDS
AWAY FROM THIS, BUT FOR US,
WE'RE IN THE ABSTRACT.
THIS IS REAL FOR THESE
PEOPLE.
IT'S TRAUMATIC AND
SHOCKING.
THEY HAVE LOST A
LOT AND THEY DON'T KNOW
WHAT THEIR FUTURE HOLDS.
>> THEY LOOKED OUT THE
WINDOW AND SAW THE FLAMES
AND SOME SAID IT TOOK A
MINUTE TO REALIZE I HAD TO
GET OUT AND IT WAS A MAJOR
FIRE.
SCARY AND THEY'RE--
>> AMANDA, THANK YOU.
>>> YOU HEARD AMANDA
TALKING ABOUT THAT
BUILDING.
IT'S A LUXURY
15-FLOOR CONDO UNIT BUILT 1
YEARS AGO.