NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — About 130 residents of the Belcourt Park Apartments have been displaced following a fire late Monday, building management told NewsChannel 5.
The Nashville Fire Department was sent to the apartment building on Belcourt Ave. at about 9:30 p.m. Monday.
According to NFD, the first crews saw light smoke when they arrived. It took about 15 minutes for responding firefighters to determine there was a fire burning between the first and second floors of the building, NFD Public Information Officer Kendra Loney said at the scene. Once it was determined there was an active fire, a second alarm was called for more resources.
The entire building, which is made up of 76 units, was evacuated.
Loney said it took crews about 20 minutes to extinguish the fire, once they figured out where it was originating.
The building sustained heavy water damage due to the fire fight, Loney said. On top of that, the building's fire sprinkler system had activated before fire crews got to the scene. Most of the water damage was contained to the first three floors of the five-floor building.
"When working a fire like this, you're going from above," Loney said. "We were working on the third floor to try to stop it from coming up to the third floor. So there may be some damage to some third floor units as well."
Nashville Electric Service had to cut power to the entire building following the fire, which is why no residents were allowed to stay there overnight. According to building management, most residents were able to find friends or family to stay with. Management said it paid for hotels for four families who couldn't find a place to go.
There were no injuries to residents or firefighters.
Loney said there is no estimate on when residents will be allowed back in the building.
"This isn't a situation where the building is burnt down to the ground, and that they're not going to be able to recover their items," Loney said. "It's a lot of water damage which does obviously damage some of your items but there are going to be a lot of items that are retrievable from even the highly-impacted units so I believe that residents are grateful that the building is still standing, that there is no injuries, that they are all safe."
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
