On Thursday officials said at 3:50 AM on April 16, 2022 Wilmington Firefighters on the C platoon were dispatched to a residential high-rise structure fire at 2400 N. Broom Street.
Fire department units arrived on scene to find a heavy smoke condition on the fifth floor of the 12-story high-rise building housing 160 units. The initial incident commander, Battalion Chief Demetrius Todd, requested additional companies to respond due to confirmation of a kitchen fire in a fifth-floor apartment.
Crews made an aggressive interior fire attack as the building sprinkler system contained the fire to the kitchen of the apartment. Simultaneously, additional crews searched all levels of the dwellings for occupants in need of assistance evacuating. The incident commander placed the scene under control at 5:17 AM. The kitchen sustained heavy fire damage while the rest of the unit and corridor of the fifth floor sustained significant smoke damage. Units directly below sustained water damage as well.
The Wilmington Fire Marshal’s Office responded and is investigating the origin and cause of the fire. Wilmington License & Inspections responded and deemed three units uninhabitable. One person was transported to Wilmington Hospital ER for difficulty breathing and was treated and released. There were no firefighter injuries.