news-record.com

GRAHAM — The cause of a Graham apartment fire appears to be an electrical short, the Alamance County Fire Marshal's office said Friday morning.

The fire was reported at 7:05 p.m. Thursday night at an apartment complex on 517 W. Market St., near the intersection of Market and Elm streets. The complex is operated by Burlington-based Quality Property Management of North Carolina.

The building where the fire broke out included three occupied apartments and a unit used for storage. A single man who lived in one of the three apartments was home, while the people living in the other apartments were away. It was Thanksgiving night.

Leonard said that eight people have been displaced by the fire, which was extinguished by Graham and Burlington firefighters. There were no injuries.

Besides the Graham and Burlington fire departments and the county fire marshal's office, Graham and Burlington police, the Alamance County Sheriff's Office, and Alamance County EMS and rescue employees responded to the fire.

Rans Triplett, executive area director of the Piedmont Carolina Chapter of the American Red Cross, said eight Red Cross volunteers helped people displaced by the fire. The apartments' residents are temporarily staying in hotels, he said.

The Red Cross is accepting donations to help the people who lost their homes to the fire. Typically, contributions help buy clothes, pay for hotel rooms and help with deposits when people find permanent housing.

Triplett said people can make checks out to the Red Cross and send them to P.O. Box 875, Burlington, N.C. 27216. He suggested writing "disaster relief" or "Graham fire" in the checks' memo line.

Triplett was thankful no one was hurt but said that volunteers were saddened to see people lose their homes on Thanksgiving.

"It kind of reminds you of how precious everything is," he said.