THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 27, 1996 TAG: 9604270384
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
An early morning fire swept through an Oceana Naval Air Station apartment complex Friday, destroying at least seven units and displacing 28 residents, officials said.
No injuries were reported.
The blaze started inside an apartment at Wherry Housing on Leyte Court near the Harper's Square area of the base.
About 6 a.m., a resident heard a smoke detector go off and called in the alarm. Oceana firefighters were quickly joined by trucks from the Virginia Beach Fire Department.
Mike Wade, a spokesman for the Virginia Beach Fire Department, said seven of the 10 units in the building were destroyed, two were heavily damaged and another was slightly damaged. The fire was brought under control before 8 a.m.
Investigators had not determined the cause of the fire by late Friday afternoon.
This was the second fire at the complex in about two weeks, said Cmdr. Dave Barron, a Navy spokesman. The first, which damaged two units, started in an apartment not far from the origin of Friday's blaze. Barron said the fires were unrelated.
There are 22 units in the housing complex, which was was built in the mid-1950s.
The fact that there have been two fires so close together concerns some residents of the complex.
One woman, who lives several units away from Friday's fire, said the building's aging electrical system may be part of the cause. There have been several power outtages at night lately, said the woman, who asked not to be identified.
Barron said the residents left homeless by Friday's fire were assisted by several agencies, including the Red Cross and the Navy League. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by STEVE EARLEY, The Virginian-Pilot
A firefighter sprays water Friday on the remains of a building at
the Wherry Housing complex on Leyte Court near the Harper's Square
area of Oceana Naval Air Station. No injuries were reported.
KEYWORDS: FIRE by CNB