Apartment fire ruled accidental

A burning incense candle started a fire that destroyed an apartment and damaged two others Thursday in Havelock, the fire chief said.

Rick Zaccardelli said Monday that the fire has been ruled accidental.

"A man in that first apartment said he was burning incense and it somehow fell over and set the apartment on fire," Zaccardelli said Monday.

The fire erupted around 3:40 p.m. Thursday at the apartment at 607 East Main St., next to the Andy's restaurant.

The fire spread quickly, according to Amber George, who was in the restaurant with friends Desiree Sparks and Brittany Cain when the fire started.

"We started seeing smoke out of the crease of the window," George said. "Then we started to see the fire come through the roof. They (restaurant employees) told us we had to leave in case it spread.

"It was crazy. There was so much smoke that you couldn't see out the window at one point."

Zaccardelli said Havelock and Cherry Point firefighters needed about 15 to 20 minutes to get the fire under control. He said it was not a particularly difficult fire to work, but crews remained on the scene for a couple of hours cleaning up and making sure the fire did not spread or start up again.

"It was built in the late 1940s or early '50s, so there was a common attic. There was no fire wall," he said of the apartment complex. "It was open all the way across the top. So, we had to check to make sure the fire didn't spread."

Zaccardelli said the apartment resident was not injured, and no firefighters were hurt battling the blaze.

The apartment was an end unit in a three-unit complex, and Zaccardelli said the other units had smoke and water damage.

Flames jumped from the building, lapping at phone, cable and electric wires nearby, causing some disruptions in service to area homes and businesses. Crews from Carteret-Craven Electric Cooperative and Time Warner Cable were both called to the scene to make repairs.

No damage estimate was available, and the owner of the complex could not be reached for comment.