HAMLET — A man will be staying at a hotel after his apartment caught fire.
The Hamlet Fire Department responded to a blaze at a duplex at Washington Court Apartments Sunday afternoon.
Chief Calvin White said the front bedroom was fully engulfed, with flames coming out both the front and side windows when crews arrived.
Fire damage was mostly limited to that bedroom.
White said his department did a good job getting the fire knocked down.
“A fire like this can get away easy,” he said.
According to the property manager, the tenant, who was recently release from jail, wasn’t home at the time. She added that the neighboring apartment was currently vacant.
White said there were no injuries.
However, police did charge his sister — who witnesses said had broken into his apartment through a window — with breaking and entering.
Her mugshot and charges were not available on the Richmond County Jail website at the time of this report.
The apartment manager said the sister was not allowed on the property.
The Red Cross was contacted to provide temporary lodging and assistance for the tenant.
Police cordoned off the area with crime scene tape and have called in the SBI to investigate the cause of the fire since it was deemed suspicious.
According to the property manager, the apartments were built in the 1940s.
