Two Homes in Richmond Damaged by Separate Fires

A predawn apartment fire Thursday forced occupants of a duplex on the 5300 block of Columbia Avenue to evacuate, the second residential blaze this week in Richmond.

Nobody got hurt. The fire started in the kitchen of one unit, likely a grease fire. Fire trucks arrived about 1:21 a.m. and confined the blaze to the kitchen, Fire Chief Michael Banks said.

The department called the American Red Cross to provide temporary shelter for two women and two children displaced by the blaze. It caused about $55,000 in property damage, officials said.

A fire Tuesday dealt similar damage to a house on the 900 block of 31st Street, where one occupant was treated for minor injury after the 11 a.m. blaze. The fire caused minor damage to a next-door garage. The cause remains under investigation, and residents of the home received help from the Red Cross.

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