Danville apartment fire sparked by unattended cooking

Unattended cooking sparked a fire at Purdum Woods Apartments late Tuesday night, according to a news release from the Danville Fire Department.

Fire Marshal Shelby Irving said most of the residents of the C building of the Richmond Boulevard complex had been let back into their apartments by Wednesday afternoon. Six families are still unable to get back in, she said.

Irving said the fire caused moderate damage to the apartment where it started and major damage to the apartment next door. She said the person who lived in the apartment where the fire started didn’t have renter’s insurance, but Irving wasn’t sure about the insurance coverage of the occupant in the adjacent apartment.

Two dozen residents were evacuated because of the blaze. Firefighters arrived at the complex at about 10 p.m. and found fire coming from the roof of the C building, fire officials said.

The fire was under control in less than 30 minutes, officials said.

Emergency Management Coordinator Doug Young said a team of rescue workers responded to the complex at 10:23 p.m. to coordinate the evacuation.

Irving said firefighters did a good job of getting the blaze under control, adding that they were lucky the fire happened earlier in the night, when residents were still awake and more easily evacuated.

“We were very fortunate in that,” she said.

No residents or firefighters were hurt in the fire.

• Contact Sarah Arkin at or (434) 791-7983.