Embers from South Park fire ‘traveling all over the place’ as other building burned

A massive fire in South Park Thursday spread to other buildings when embers sparked spot fires elsewhere, according to fire officials and reports from The Charlotte Observer’s journalists on the ground.

The fire in the 7700 block of Liberty Row Drive started Thursday morning in a parking garage. The fire shot a plume of smoke into the sky that could be seen for miles. The fire required 15 people to be rescued, injured at least one person and left two construction workers unaccounted for, officials said.

All available personnel were on hand, one responder said over the radio before noon. And firefighters from other jurisdictions were called in to help with coverage.

“We’ve got several spot fires,” another responder said.

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The spot fires included a “construction building just across the street,” Charlotte Fire Chief Reginald Johnson said at a 1 p.m. press conference.

“We stopped that. And then we had a number of rooftop fires due to the embers that were just traveling all over the place due to the volume and size of the fire,” Johnson said.

Audio of emergency broadcast traffic reported a harrowing scene, including a partial collapse of the building on fire and the need to evacuate some units on which debris was about to fall.

“We’ve got (one) side beginning to collapse now,” an emergency worker reported to command staff, according to the audio.

On the ground, reporters saw flames and smoke from buildings beyond the under-construction parking garage where the fire started. The garage was next to an apartment complex, Modera SouthPark, developed by the firm Mill Creek Residential, which was set to feature 239 apartment homes within two buildings.

Flames were reported at a building at SouthPark Center on Park South Drive, which contains Quicken Loans Mortgage Services and other offices, with on-scene personnel responding quickly.

Approximately an hour after the first fire began, a fire alarm sounded inside a neighboring hotel property. People were standing on the roof of a separate hotel, a nearby Marriott Residence Inn, according to emergency broadcast traffic.

On the ground, an Observer reporter said that the hotel had been evacuated.

An evacuation order was in place to the north in a Piedmont Town Center business and shopping complex just after noon.

Dozens of responders with the fire department, ambulances, sheriff’s deputies and police lined the street near the site. Mass casualty buses were coming through the area, an Observer reporter said.

“Charlotteans, please stay safe and refrain from calling 911 unless it is an emergency,” Mayor Vi Lyles said in a 10:49 a.m. tweet. “Our public safety officials are working very hard to control the 5-alarm fire in the SouthPark area. Everyone’s safety is of the utmost importance.”

Staff Writer Joe Marusak contributed.