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Several people were forced from their homes Thursday morning when fire damaged an apartment building off Johnston Road in south Charlotte.
The fire was reported at about 7:10 a.m. at the Berkshire Place Apartments, in the 7600 block of Cedar Point Lane, between Park Road and Pineville-Matthews Road.
Charlotte fire Capt. Mark Basnight said firefighters found heavy smoke and flames coming from a building when they arrived.
The flames and smoke were visible for at least a mile and caused traffic backups during the morning commute for a while on Park, Johnston and Pineville-Matthews roads.
It took a crew of 27 firefighters a little less than 25 minutes to subdue the blaze, Basnight said. Crews at the scene said between eight and 10 people were displaced, and the American Red Cross responded to help the victims.
Investigators are working to determine a cause.
It was the second south Charlotte apartment fire in less than 24 hours.
On Wednesday evening, a two-alarm blaze damaged an apartment building on Reafield Drive.
No injuries were reported in that fire. The Observer’s Davie Hinshaw contributed
