CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - A fire damaged three apartment units in east Charlotte Sunday night causing thousands of dollars worth of damage.
The fire occurred around 7 p.m. at 6523 Monroe Road in a unit at the Silver Oaks Apartments.
"We are very fortunate that we live right across the street from the fire department," said Tracey Golden. "They were here in, like, the blink of a eye."
Golden says the blaze started in her apartment while she was in bed watching TV.
"[My husband] ran across to the fire department and the next thing you know is, we lost the house. That's all I know," Golden says.
"I'm kinda messed up," she said. "I'm really messed up, but only by the grace of God we still here. We still have our lives."
Firefighters at Fire Station 3, which is located directly across the street from the apartment complex, saw smoke coming from the roof of an apartment building as they were climbing aboard their trucks to respond to the fire.
When they arrived on scene, the fire was traveling from the back of the two-story unit to the roof.
Firefighters quickly jumped into action putting out the fire while other firefighters alerted the residents in the building to evacuate.
Altogether, 54 firefighters responded to the scene and they had the fire under control in 27 minutes.
While no one was injured, three families were displaced. One unit was damaged by fire, and two other units had water and smoke damage.
Fire officials were able to trace the source of the fire to the rear storage room of an apartment.
The cause of the fire was ruled accidental and caused an estimated $40,000 in damage.
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