Local

Sunday morning apartment fire displaces 11

Fire investigators are investigating what caused an apartment fire that left 11 people homeless in north Charlotte. Four units were destroyed in the fire; blown-out windows and melted siding is all that remains.

Michelle Lyle lives in the complex and says she was immediately worried about her 81-year-old godmother, who lived in one of the units that caught fire.

"The fire department kicked open her door saying there was a fire. There was a fire, and they had to get them out of there," Lyle said.

Firefighters arrived around 4:30 Sunday morning to smoke and flames shooting from the building. Officials say it took 50 firefighters half an hour to put the fire out. It spread through both floors of the apartment complex.

Lyle says she saw one mother throwing her children out of a second floor window to escape the flames.

"I was shocked. I was in a state of shock, scared," Lyle said.

"There were two occupants transported for observation with non-life-threatening injuries," said Kevin Moses with the Charlotte Fire Department.

Lyle's godmother was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation.

The Red Cross is helping the four families who can no longer stay in their apartment. Fire officials are warning people to stay away from the unit while the investigation continues.