big story of the morning fire.
Crews continue to keep an eye on
a fire that happened right here
overnight in the Charlotte area.
2 construction workers unaccounted for.
The family of one of them believes 30 year
old demonte Cheryl died in that fire.
Loved ones say he tried calling
them pleading for help.
The fire quickly engulfing the construction
site making it really difficultr
the nearly 90 firefighters to rescue.
Over a dozen of those workers.
We know the first calls came
in around 9:00 AM yesterday.
Just 10 minutes later a second
alarm called in.
The response kept growing till
just before 10:00 AM when that
fifth alarm fire was called.
This is the highest response
from Charlotte fire department.
Also the most dangerous departms
even getting called in from Pineville,
Midland, Wesley Chapel and Steele Creek.
But this hour we still do not
know what started and ignited.
Those flames let's bring into
Wake Up Charlotte's rich devein
live here in South Park.
So Richard,
you were on the ground here yesterday
morning when this first started.
At this point,
what do we know?
Yeah, pretty much what you said this morning,
Ben. Good morning to you.
Good Friday morning.
I can tell you when the flames started.
There are a lot of people actuay
watching what was going on at the time.
I'll step out of the way,
let you take a look.
They're still trying to douse t.
Any possible hotspots to this building
right behind the building that went up?
A retirement community.
I was located in that retirement community
as they were going about the process of
making sure all their residents were safe.
Next to that was a hotel.
The managers, of course,
worried about their workers
and all of their guests.
People in this area concerned
the mall stayed open,
but businesses in the area
closed for the day.
Some of them will reopen today,
but as you can well imagine,
people are still worried and concerned
about how this blaze actually started.
Flames moving rapidly, putting
everyone in its path in danger.
Including construction crews wog
on the site of the Madera South Park.
We had over 90 firefighters on
scene who heroically. Rescued 15
workers from the construction s,
one worker trapped on a crane ae
the flames. Finally, crews got to him
that we had to put hose lines in place
to protect the crane until we cd
actually make the rescue itself,
Chief Johnson says. The large at
of exposed wood fed the flames
as heavy smoke engulfed the are.
People working nearby watching in fear.
The back of the building is like
almost like exploded pretty muc.
And so then that's when the fire
alarm rang in our building 6100
and we were able to come out hos
after it began. Crews able
to contain the blaze. Now,
those crews being called heroes,
men and women of this department
put themselves in harm's way and
actually had to call for assiste
themselves to get out of this f.
That's how fast it was moving.
Yeah, I was standing right behind the the
the Fire Chief and other fire officials
as they were going about the process of
trying to determine the next steps to
take all this as this investigation of
what causes fire is still happe.
Of course they'll be out here this morning.
If people are not needing to coe
into this area to work or to mae
go to the mall, just stay away.
Give officials the opportunity o
get this investigation underway,
of course, as you just heard.
Two people still missing, of co.
When we get information or upda,
we'll give that to you.
Ben will send it back to you.
Yep. Richard, the the bravery
of the CFD on full display for
several hours yesterday afterno.
Thank you for that.
And our team coverage right now
continues with Kia, Murray and .
One of the most dramatic moments
yesterday was watching firefighs
help rescue a crane operator
high above that burning fire.
That's right, Ben.
And we saw Richard mention
that in his story as well.
But I want to talk just
a little more about it.
Out of the more than 90
firefighters who saved 15 workes
from that construction site,
this is the rescue that
perhaps stands out the most.
Make sure you take a look what starts
as this really smoky video shows
two figures climbing down a lad.
And then the video zooms
in and there's more smoke,
but you can see the pair working
their way down the ladder.
Eventually they make it to the base safely,
and it started when a worker
got stuck on a crane.
Here's Fire Chief Reginald John.
Describing the effort
that we had to put hose lines in
place to protect the crane untie
could actually make the rescue itself.
And then this rescue was especiy
tricky with such a massive fire.
It really was, and firefighters weren't
sure what they were encountering
when they arrived here yesterday
morning at 9:00 AM And to be ho,
they're still not exactly
sure exactly what was burning.
We have much more coverage comig
throughout the morning right
here on Wake Up Charlotte As we
learn more on this fire,
we'll keep you posted throughout
the day here on WCNC,
Charlotte and inside the WCNC.