VIRGINIA BEACH — Officials say a fire that burned in an Oceanfront condominium complex Thursday morning likely started in a chimney.
Virginia Beach Fire Department staff responded to the fire in the 2400 block of Marsh Creek Court around 10:45 a.m. They extinguished the fire within 10 minutes, officials said.
The condo resident told officials that he was using the fireplace when the fire began. Investigators believe the fire was an accident.
Although the blaze caused damage to two condo units, no one was injured. The people who lived in the unit where the fire started will be temporarily displaced, said VBFD spokesman Art Kohn.
“We got the power back on in both units, Kohn said. “We were lucky. With the wind today that whole building could have gone up,” Kohn said.
The VBFD said fire prevention counts on a clean chimney. Kohn said that at least once a year, a chimney sweep should inspect fireplace systems.
