SIX-SQUARE BLOCKS ON FIRE DOWNTOWN RICHMOND, VA.

Fox News

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Fox reporting "five or six square blocks" near Broad Street on fire in downstown Richmond, VA.

"Explosions heard" before fire erupted.

Evacuations underway. Fire spreading.

[Bahbah]

It's very smokey but the fire looks localized.

[Constitution Day]

http://www.wtvr.com/Global/story.asp?S=1740529&nav=KACdLpZY

Windy conditions have turned a major fire in downtown Richmond into multiple fires. Lieutenant Keith Vida with the Richmond Fire Department says that several buildings are on fire and rooftops on several more, in the area of the academic campus of Virginia Commonwealth University. Vida says the first fire started just after noon in a four-story apartment building under construction near a parking garage and university bookstore and the Siegel Center, V-C-U's main sports arena. Wind blew burning debris onto other buildings in other blocks north of the fire, toward Interstate 95. Traffic is at a standstill in the area, including Interstate 95. Vida says Richmond police have evacuated several buildings, and are going door-to-door in the area, asking people to leave their homes, in case the fire spreads to their building. State troopers are helping city police with traffic and crowd control. Vida says they don't know what caused the fire.

[sharktrager]

An explosive fire broke out at 12:32 p.m. today in a Virginia Commonwealth University building under construction in the 900 block of West Broad Street, igniting other blazes in nearby buildings, sending soccer ball-sized cinders tumbling down city streets and filling the sky with smoke.

The heat was so intense and 15 mph winds so high that the fire jumped across Broad Street from the south to the north side and started to spread into the Carver neighborhood.

Dominion Virginia Power cut off electric service to more than 1,000 customers in the area for safety reasons, a spokesman said.

Traffic is being rerouted around the area, and a river of water from fire hoses is flowing down Broad Street. Burning embers are floating over Interstate 95.

VCU spokesman Michael Ford said early this afternoon that no injuries have been handled so far at the Medical College of Virginia hospital.

By 2 p.m. today, the fire had burned up to the alley between Marshall and Broad streets at Goshen.

Firefighters are now pouring water on houses on the south side of Marshall in an attempt to keep the flames from spreading further north.

Buildings on both sides of Marshall have been evacuated.

Keith Vida, Richmond assistant fire marshal, said the blaze broke out at the former site of a Hardees restaurant.

VCU officials said they were not aware of the cause of the fire. Officials evacuated a nearby bookstore, parking deck and a fine arts building nearby.

"It's really tragic," said VCU President Eugene Trani as he stood on the corner of Grace and Shafer streets.

Fire officials said the first alarm came in at 12:34 p.m. with a report that the third and fourth floors of the structure were on fire. The second alarm came in at 12:44 and the third alarm at 1:04 p.m. The conflagration was so intense that authorities called on mutual aid, and Chesterfield and Henrico County firefighters are also on the scene.

The flames, fed by winds, have leapt to other buildings, including wooden structures, along Marshall, Goshen and Clay streets

Eric Helmick, a VCU construction inspector who was working at VCU's new dining hall, said he was eating his lunch, looked over and saw the smoke.

"I've never seen anything like this," he said.

VCU officials said the four-story apartment and retail development, when finished, was expected to cost $14 million. The developer had already spend up to $4 million on the development, VCU officials said.

More than 170 students were supposed to have moved into the apartments in August.

[Johnny Gage]

Fires break out at VCU

Richmond Times-Dispatch Mar 26, 2004


Firefighters battle a blaze at Virginia Commonwealth University on Broad Street in downtown Richmond.
UPDATED: 2:09 p.m. 03/26/2004

An explosive fire broke out at 12:32 p.m. today in a Virginia Commonwealth University building under construction in the 900 block of West Broad Street, igniting other blazes in nearby buildings, sending soccer ball-sized cinders tumbling down city streets and filling the sky with smoke.

The heat was so intense and 15 mph winds so high that the fire jumped across Broad Street from the south to the north side and started to spread into the Carver neighborhood.

Dominion Virginia Power cut off electric service to more than 1,000 customers in the area for safety reasons, a spokesman said.

Traffic is being rerouted around the area, and a river of water from fire hoses is flowing down Broad Street. Burning embers are floating over Interstate 95.

VCU spokesman Michael Ford said early this afternoon that no injuries have been handled so far at the Medical College of Virginia hospital.

By 2 p.m. today, the fire had burned up to the alley between Marshall and Broad streets at Goshen.

Firefighters are now pouring water on houses on the south side of Marshall in an attempt to keep the flames from spreading further north.

Buildings on both sides of Marshall have been evacuated.

Keith Vida, Richmond assistant fire marshal, said the blaze broke out at the former site of a Hardees restaurant.

VCU officials said they were not aware of the cause of the fire. Officials evacuated a nearby bookstore, parking deck and a fine arts building nearby.

"It's really tragic," said VCU President Eugene Trani as he stood on the corner of Grace and Shafer streets.

Fire officials said the first alarm came in at 12:34 p.m. with a report that the third and fourth floors of the structure were on fire. The second alarm came in at 12:44 and the third alarm at 1:04 p.m. The conflagration was so intense that authorities called on mutual aid, and Chesterfield and Henrico County firefighters are also on the scene.

The flames, fed by winds, have leapt to other buildings, including wooden structures, along Marshall, Goshen and Clay streets

Eric Helmick, a VCU construction inspector who was working at VCU's new dining hall, said he was eating his lunch, looked over and saw the smoke.

"I've never seen anything like this," he said.

VCU officials said the four-story apartment and retail development, when finished, was expected to cost $14 million. The developer had already spend up to $4 million on the development, VCU officials said.

More than 170 students were supposed to have moved into the apartments in August.

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

Less than a mile from where I used to live!

The commute home on I-95N will be fun this evening.

[KarlInOhio]

Watch it.

?

I'm betting the "watch it" is a warning about misspelling "serious" in reference to a fire, which started the whole freeper serious/series confusion.

High rise fire in Downtown Chicago

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Fox showing pictures. Near Segal Center Sports Arena.

Brush fires blowing across I-95. May be closed down.

Original building destroyed already.

Corin, where are you?

[freedomson]

Let's just hope Constitution Day isn't lurking.

[theDentist]

Hope they don't blame this one on us Yankees again.

[RosieCotton]

Oh, I know about the misspelling. ;-) I was there! I was there the day the shower thing started, too.

But I didn't think it had a place on this thread.

[AdSimp]

I admit it was quite a show here from my office window 2 miles away, but now I can hardly see the smoke. Are you sure the news feed is not replaying previous tape?

[Mudboy Slim]

I'm checking out the smoke plume from my office's conference window...windy conditions are proving troublesome fer fire-fighters.

FReegards...MUD

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

Only if you are a liberal yankee....a conservative yankee is safe.

[freeperfromnj]

Thanks for the ping - sure is a lot going on today

[Mudboy Slim]

It's over 20 blocks from Corin's office...MUD

[sphinx]

Them dam Yankees.

That is not entirely a joke. Just about everything that burned south of the Mason-Dixon line between 1865 and 1940 is blamed on Sherman or Sheridan already ....

[Dr. Eckleburg]

It's live. Evacuations underway. Find a tv screen.

[Uncle Miltie]

"the blaze broke out at the former site of a Hardees restaurant."

Grease fire.

Sue the fat merchants! < / sarcasm>

[Types_with_Fist]

sure is a lot going on today.

I don't think so, really. It's actually a slow news day. On Fridays, Fox likes to use that "breaking news" slam of theirs more often. I'm waiting for them to switch to "breaking News" in Toledo or something for somebody's stubbed toe.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

I-95 in two major stories today. Hmmm....

Anything else of import along this Interstate?