12 adults, 17 children without a home after Chesterfield apartment fire

CHESTERFIELD, Va. (WWBT) - Two people, including one child, were sent to the hospital on Sunday after a fire broke out in a Chesterfield apartment building, the child has been released, the man is still in critical condition.

Crews have been working to put out the fire, which started at the Rollingwood apartment complex at 3300 Tanners Way around 2 p.m.

Much of the building has been damaged and several fire trucks were on scene to extinguish the blaze. 12 adults and 17 children have been displaced, according to Chesterfield Lieutenant Kenny Mitchell, and 10-12 apartments have been affected.

Lt. Mitchell also says Chesterfield Schools is working with the students to get them the materials they need to learn virtually.

Investigators are unsure if smoke alarms went off or what caused the fire.

Red Cross is assisting those that have been displaced and the building management is assisting with the situation.

Serita Storrs lives inside one of the destroyed apartments. She tried to get the injured man out.

“Heartbreaking to know that everything that I work for, everything that I’ve done had, important stuff...is gone. It’s just gone,” said Storrs.

Rollingwood’s staff worked with the Red Cross to find permanent housing for the displaced residents. The apartment complex provided a check equal to one month’s rent to assist each of these residents in finding new permanent housing. They also offered to transfer each resident to another similar apartment on the property, or another property that they manage, if one is available.

Six apartments were indirectly affected by the fire and have been inspected by the county and approved for occupancy. Once the utilities were restored to each of these apartments and the common area, the apartments were professionally cleaned, and the families were allowed to return to their homes.

This article was updated on Dec. 23 to include updated information from Rollingwood apartments.

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