Crews investigate Clarksville apartment complex fire

A calm Sunday afternoon turned into chaos at one Clarksville apartment complex as a fire forced residents from their homes.

“I was very nervous and I saw the smoke”, Cabral said, whose family and neighbors were huddled in blankets and cradling coffee outside the 66-unit building as the cold reality set in after the fire. Several firefighters immediately began rescuing the trapped occupants while others fought the fire at the opposite end of the building.

Occupants of eight apartments were evacuated without injury.

The fire appears to have started with a stove.

Two apartments are considered a total loss, while six others sustained heavy water and smoke damage. Rosario, his wife and his two young children are among the roughly 20 residents that will have to find a place to sleep for at least the next few nights.

Officials say one firefighter was transported to Jacobi Medical Center with minor injuries.

After knocking down the flames from the outside, crews moved into the building to fight the fire that had spread into the common stairwell and into an upstairs apartment.