Virginia Tech students displaced by apartment fire

BLACKSBURG, Va. (WDBJ) - Over 60 people were displaced following a fire at the Foxridge apartment complex in Blacksburg Monday night.

The fire damaged a 24-unit apartment building, and 65 people had to be evacuated and relocated, including 38 Virginia Tech students. No one was hurt, but students who were there said it was still a scary experience.

“I heard sirens, so I went into my roommate’s room, which is right there on the edge. I told him to just open the blinds. I think there are cops outside, and then I saw the entire roof on fire. It was pretty scary,” said Zahan Dastur, a Virginia Tech student who lives in the building next to the one that caught fire at Foxridge. “For like 10 to 15 minutes, I was pretty concerned because I thought if that tree catches fire, I’m going to start packing my stuff. It was pretty scary.”

Doug Pluta lives on the first floor of the building. He said it all happened very fast around 10:15 Monday night.

“I was hanging out in my apartment. I heard a bunch of screaming, running, and banging. I thought it was a joke at first because the fire alarms weren’t going off initially. Then I heard somebody yell fire and I suited my dog up and walked outside. There was smoke everywhere. As soon as I looked back at the building, you could see flames coming from the third floor through the roof,” said Pluta, a graduate student at Virginia Tech.

Pluta said everyone was able to evacuate the building within a few minutes. He said he doesn’t think any of the flames reached his apartment, but he is expecting water damage.

“Luckily, I’ve been a paramedic for a while, so I can handle emergency situations, but definitely seeing flames come through the roof of my building was less than ideal. It was pretty scary; a lot of people were freaking out a little bit, which is understandable given the circumstances,” said Pluta.

The Blacksburg Volunteer Fire Department said the fire is still under investigation, but appears to have started on the back porch of one of the apartments.

“I saw the fire at the top, and at that point, it had already gotten pretty bad. It was just so shocking because it was so close,” said Jack Bolton, a Virginia Tech student who lives in the building next to the one that caught fire. ”I think I speak for everyone when I say how grateful we were for the first responders. But I don’t know, you never expect it to happen so close to you, and I hope everyone is ok."

The university provided housing for those evacuated at the Inn at Virginia Tech, where the Red Cross was on site to provide assistance. Virginia Tech will continue to house affected residents at the Inn through the rest of the week. It said the Dean of Students Office has also issued class absence verifications to impacted students.

Doug Pluta said one positive from the fire was seeing how the building’s residents helped one another out.

“I appreciate all the people that live here. I think everybody was really looking out for each other. Obviously, somebody went around and evacuated everybody, which was really nice. It was great to see people I haven’t really even met come together and try to help each other after this kind of thing happened,” said Pluta.

The Solomon Organization, which owns Foxridge, said it will pay for hotels for those who were displaced for as long as necessary. It provided the following statement to WDBJ7 regarding the fire:

The Solomon Organization is deeply grateful that all residents of Fox Ridge Apartment Homes are safe following last night’s fire that affected 12 units in a 24-unit building at the community in Blacksburg. We are relieved to report that there were no injuries, and no one required hospitalization.

All displaced residents have been offered assistance, and those who did not secure their own accommodations have been placed in hotels at our expense. While we are confident some of the units will be available very soon for re-occupancy, hotel arrangements will remain available for as long as needed, and our team is working directly with each student and resident to ensure they are stably housed. There are some available units within the Fox Ridge community, and we will prioritize relocation for affected residents as soon as those apartments can be prepared.

We extend our sincere appreciation to the Blacksburg Fire Department and all responding agencies for their swift and professional response. We will fully support and defer to the Fire Department’s ongoing investigation into the cause of the incident, which we understand may take several days.

We understand that this is an especially challenging time for students as they complete their semester over the next two weeks. Our on-site staff and regional team will continue to provide individualized support to help residents navigate housing, transportation, and any other needs that arise during this period.

The safety and well-being of our residents remain our highest priority, and we will continue to communicate updates as additional information becomes available.