Multiple Durham crews tackled a large fire at an abandoned affordable housing apartment complex early Wednesday morning after an SUV crashed into the building.
The Durham Fire Department told WRAL News no one was hurt. The SUV was empty when crews arrived at the scene, and Durham policed confirmed the vehicle was reported as stolen.
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The cause of the crash and if it was related to the fire is unclear.
Durham firefighters arrived around 1:45 a.m. to find a heavy fire through the roof of a building on Lakeland Street. Firefighters had to use ladder trucks to put out the fire.
Scanner traffic revealed more:
"Heavy fire ... we do have a car partially inside the building."
"It's an SUV ... it's just very weird the way it's positioned."
The building is a part of Lincoln Apartments, affordable housing that was abandoned more than a decade ago. The apartment's management and owners evicted residents from the complex in 2012 because of "unfavorable financial conditions," according to an article by WRAL.
Durham Housing Authority released redevelopment plans for the Lincoln Apartments and McDougald Terrace in 2023.
The WRAL Breaking News Tracker got to the scene around 2:20 a.m. on Wednesday and captured video of crews putting out hot spots. The roof is destroyed, and there was damage to at least the second story of the building.
The SUV, which crashed into the building, was badly charred.
About 10 fire trucks were there along with EMS and Durham police.