CHARLOTTE — Firefighters discovered a body inside an east Charlotte apartment after a fire tore through the building Wednesday morning, officials said.
According to Charlotte Fire, it broke out around 6:45 a.m. at an apartment complex on Sharon Chase Drive. Officials were able to control the fire in 20 minutes.
During the response, crews discovered one deceased person in an unrelated area. While officials say the death was not a result of the fire, detectives with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department are trying to piece together what happened.
CFD says one person was taken to the hospital, and another was treated for smoke inhalation in the parking lot, but no other injuries to residents or firefighters were reported.
A total of nine units were impacted. The Red Cross is working with the displaced residents.
Channel 9’s Eli Brand spoke to a couple who was in the apartment building when they started to smell smoke. They say they ran out of the apartment in just socks.
“I literally fell down the steps trying to get out because the smoke had literally filled from below me and was already coming up the steps,” Emerita Richardson, who lives directly above the apartment where the fire started, said.
Richardson said she heard what seemed to be an altercation downstairs a few hours before the fire started.
“We heard yelling throughout the night, and then around 6:51 a.m., there was a gentleman yelling ‘Call 911.’”
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
This is the second fire CFD crews responded to Wednesday morning. The first broke out just before 4 a.m. at a townhome in southeast Charlotte.
This is a developing story. Check back with wsoctv.com for updates.
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