July 5, 2020 1:00 p.m. 

No one was hurt in an apartment fire early Sunday in Winston.

Josh Waechter of the Winston-Dillard Fire Department said crews from Winston and from Douglas County Fire District No. 2 were sent to a reported fire at the Blue Ridge Apartments in the 100 block of Southwest Hart, just before 1:00 a.m.

Waechter said crews received an initial report that an adult and child were trapped on a second-floor balcony and that their apartment was quickly filling with black smoke. Crews arrived to find a large amount of black smoke and fire exiting the back of the structure and through the roof. Waechter said crews found that the fire was blocking the front doors of two apartments. Both occupants and their children were able to get to safety.

Crews were able to knock down the majority of the fire with an aggressive initial attack. Additional crews arrived and made entry into the home and fully extinguished the fire. An investigation determined that the cause of the fire appears to be accidental.

Lookingglass Fire assisted the other agencies. Waechter said quick action by fire fighters limited the fire damage and stopped it from spreading to other apartments.