NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – “It’s surreal right now, and I’m just glad everybody, you know, made it all safe,” said Dennis Anderson, one of several people displaced after an apartment fire on West Ocean View Avenue.
Norfolk Fire-Rescue (NFR) said 10 units were damaged as a result of the fire.
“It was like around midnight, maybe,” Anderson said. “Just getting the kids ready for school and started to smell smoke and heard banging on the doors. You know, I’m not used to anybody knocking on my door at all. So as soon as I heard the knock I smelled the smoke immediately. So I got the kids out. My youngest son is 4-years-old he has autism. His brother is 15.”
He said he got his children and his wife out of the house.
“I came back and tried to knock on as many other doors around as we could to get people out of the way, because I didn’t know how fast it was going to spread,” Anderson said.
Anderson said he was able to help get around five or six people out of their homes.
“If you look around, you see like black stuff splattered around all over here. So once I start hearing explosions, I mean, I started seeing stuff flying sparks and things like that,” Anderson said. “I didn’t know if something was actually going to explode further.”
He never imagined that it would be his last night in his home of 10 years. This all happening on the same week his children started school at Granby High School and Willoughby Child Development Center.
He said his whole family is shaken up.
“We were getting ready for another day school, you know, school with the kids that we started school early this year,” Anderson said. “And I know right now my mind is just just blown right now. Sounded like a little mini war zone. The explosions and the way the sky was lit up at the time. Loss for words right now.”
NFR said one person was hurt and is expected to be okay, but said that a cat was killed in the fire.
“Just prayers for everybody and the situation and all around. Loss for words right now,” Anderson said. “Honestly. I’m just glad everybody made it out safe.”
Anderson created a GoFundMe to help support his family.
Fire officials are still investigating the cause of the fire.