Multiple apartment units have been destroyed due to a fire at a DeSoto County complex.
The Walls Fire Department confirmed that the blaze broke out at The Crescent at 161 Apartments on Sunday. Multiple first responder agencies arrived at the scene to combat the fire.
Officials said one apartment building was damaged and several units within that structure were destroyed. The DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office added that eight families were without a home as a result of the blaze. The tenants have since found housing through the apartment complex and the American Red Cross.
No serious injuries have been reported since the fire started.
“We would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to all of the firefighters and EMS personnel and everyone else that came out to help on our apartment fire yesterday,” a statement from the Walls Fire Department reads. “Eudora, Nesbit, Horn Lake, Southaven, Lewisburg, Bridgetown, Love also Desoto County Search and Rescue for the water and Gatorade, and Desoto County Emergency Services.”
Officials believe the fire was accidental, though an investigation into the blaze’s origin remains active. Walls Fire Chief Mike Hancock told WREG is looking into multiple “dead” fire hydrants within the apartment complex. The chief told the Memphis TV station that out of around nine hydrants tested at the site, only three were working properly.
Since the complex is private, it is responsible for maintaining fire hydrants.