Two fatalities reported in nighttime Vestavia Hills apartment fire

Two people died in an apartment fire at Vestawood Apartments near Columbiana and Massey roads Thursday night, but quick thinking by Vestavia Hills firefighters prevented that number from being higher, officials said.

The call came in Thursday around 9 p.m., Vestavia Hills fire Lt. Ryan Farrell said. Because the apartment complex is next to Vestavia Hills Fire Station No. 2, firefighters were on the scene in less than three minutes. 

“We knew from the dispatch that we had people trapped in multiple apartments,” Farrell said. “The crews had just an extreme amount of fire when they pulled up.”

A family of five was trapped behind a masonry wall, and when firefighters could not reach the family, they chose to breech the wall, Farrell said. It was their ability to think outside of the box that helped save the family, he said.

“Having one fatality is bad enough; having two is something that affects us,” Farrell said. “We don’t ever want that to happen, but the fact that we were able to rescue as many people as we did, we are proud of our crews. They faced some tough conditions ... We very easily could have had seven fatalities last night, and we’re extremely proud of our folks.”

Vestavia Hills had three fire engines, one ladder truck and two ambulances on the scene. The Hoover Fire Department provided backup with an incident commander, truck company, engine company and rescue transport vehicle.

The apartment building that caught fire had about 20 units, and the fire affected half of that building, Farrell said. Two of those units were vacant, five had significant fire damage and the remaining units had smoke and water damage, he said.

About eight people were taken to a hospital by ambulance, and more traveled by car to get treated for smoke inhalation, Farrell said.

Vestavia Hills fire investigators will be on the scene throughout the day, working to determine the cause of the fire, Farrell said.

“They’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said. “It’s going to take some time. They’re methodical, which is what we want them to be.”