Fire Damages Six Apartments at North Raleigh Complex Near Spring Forest Road

Tara Wiselove had been planning a celebration with her sons Monday night when she looked up and saw the LYV at Six Forks apartment complex engulfed. "When we walked, the flames were as big as the building coming from the top floor and the trees were on fire," she said. "When we turned around there was fire and it was big."

Investigators said the fire, which lit up the sky near Shanda Drive and Spring Forest Road in north Raleigh around 8:15 p.m., was caused by improperly discarded smoking material. The Raleigh Fire Department confirmed only one building in the complex caught fire, and no injuries were reported.

About 60 firefighters and ladder trucks from the Raleigh Fire Department descended on the three-story building, with Raleigh Police Department personnel also on scene. Flames reached nearly two stories high before crews brought the blaze under control. According to the fire department, six apartments sustained damage. Ten residents could not return to their homes; the complex's management is working with the Red Cross to assist them.

Wiselove, who saw people running in and out of the building as the fire spread, said she heard a loud boom before realizing the severity of the situation. "I know it came from the building, but I don't know what generated the sound," she said. She also described the unease that rippled through onlookers: "There was some worry about someone still being left in the building and I don't know the answers to that."

Aerial footage captured Tuesday morning showed the full extent of the damage to the structure.

The fire is at least the third significant blaze at this location in roughly two decades. An October 2022 fire at the same complex forced 10 people from their apartments, and a July 2008 fire damaged 16 units. The latest incident adds fresh urgency to questions about fire safety at the Spring Forest Road property, particularly given that investigators traced Monday's cause to something as preventable as improperly discarded smoking material.