Trending Topics

Unattended candles lead to fatal N.C. apartment fire

Authorities said the Charlotte apartment had smoke detectors but the batteries had been removed

By WSOC
The Charlotte Observer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Two people were killed in a fire early Wednesday at an apartment complex in east Charlotte, according to the Charlotte Fire Department.

Burning candles were left unattended, which caused a fire in an apartment on Spanish Quarter Circle, fire department officials said.

Firefighters were called to the blaze around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday. The fire was quickly extinguished, but firefighters found the two victims inside the home. They were originally taken to a nearby hospital before they died from their injuries.

Three cats were also killed in the fire, according to CFD.

The apartment unit had a smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector, but neither worked due to batteries being removed, authorities said.

According to the fire department, no other apartments were damaged in the fire.

The victims haven’t been identified yet.

CFD Reginald Johnson wrote on Twitter that the department expresses “our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the victims.”

©2024 The Charlotte Observer.
Visit charlotteobserver.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Trending
Neighbor video showed flames engulfing a Brockton home before crews arrived, with residents tying sheets into a rope to escape a window as Fire Chief Bran Nardelli credited staffing levels with enabling five ground-ladder rescues
Austin Hodge, 34, who had served with the department since 2017, died on duty a year after his brother Jarius, also a member of the St. Lucie County Fire District, died while on duty in 2025
Witt, a Marine veteran who had served the Rutland-Dundee Fire Protection District since January 2019, was hospitalized after suffering a medical emergency during training on Oct. 21
All workers were accounted for safely after an apparent explosion triggered a fire at the world’s largest milling facility in Cedar Rapids, which processes over 2 million pounds of oats daily