Fire destroys apartments on Main Street

CLAYTON -- Four families are homeless after fire broke out at an apartment complex at 500 West Main Street about 1:45 p.m. today.

Firefighters from Clayton, Garner and Archer Lodge battled flames that licked out of the roof of the building, damaging at least four apartment units with fire and smoke.

A mother and her little boy had escaped the fire by the time firefighters arrived, and were transported to Johnston Medical Center to be checked out for smoke inhalation, said Clayton public information officer Stacy Beard. No one else was in the building.

Beard said firefighters aren’t sure yet what caused the fire at the complex, which is owned by Cheryl and Donald Lee.

Police closed off Main Street between Robertson and Moore, but Beard said the street should be open again by rush hour.

The blaze collapsed the roofs of the two two-story units closest to Main Street.