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Two people were injured Friday night in a three-alarm fire that damaged nearly two dozen apartment units in Matthews, town and fire officials said.
Firefighters were called at about 8:30 p.m. to the Berkshires at Matthews apartments, in the 1700 block of Chambers Drive, off Matthews-Mint Hill Road, town spokeswoman Anette Privette Keller said. The apartment complex is a short distance north of East Independence Boulevard near Butler High School.
Fire officials said two people were injured, apparently when they jumped from third-floor balconies in the three-story building. Medic reported that one person suffered life-threatening injuries, and the other person’s injuries were described as non-life-threatening.
No updates on their conditions were available Saturday.
More than 60 firefighters — from the Matthews, Stallings, Mint Hill, Idlewild and Charlotte departments — were called to battle the blaze. It took them more than an hour to bring it under control.
Authorities said 23 apartment units suffered some type of damage.
Fire officials said Saturday morning that the blaze started in the kitchen of a first-floor unit. It appears as if the cause was food left cooking on a stove.
The American Red Cross opened a shelter overnight at Butler High School.
A person at the shelter Saturday morning said a handful of people spent the night there.
