UPDATE: The Memphis Fire Department said the fire started in the attic of the building due to an electrical malfunction. They said no civilians or firefighters were harmed in the blaze.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Memphis Fire Department responded to a fire at the Peppertree Apartments Wednesday morning.
The Memphis Fire Department responded to the fire at the apartments located on the 4200 block of Graceland shortly before 6 a.m.
MFD stated the leasing building of the apartment caught fire—a stand-alone building that does not touch the apartments where residents live.
The blaze was so intense fire was coming through the roof. No one was inside the building and no one was hurt.
Fire officials say the flames started in the attic and the fire was caused by malfunctioning electrical equipment.
Teddrick Estes is the principal at Hill Crest High School which is less than a block away from the Peppertree. The fire erupted as students were making their way to class.
“We just want to make sure that everything is good over there and that none of our kids are displaced or effected,” Estes said.
Estes says say several students who live there attend his school and the Red Door after-school program that was featured on WREG’s Community Changers two weeks ago. The program meets inside the same building that burned down.
“A lot of those kids rely on that program. That program feeds those kids after school for those kids that do attend and they provide a lot of services that those kids do need,”Estes added.
Earlier this month, two people were hospitalized after a walkway at the Peppertree Apartments collapsed.
From the ongoing crime to when a fire tore through the apartments and left eleven families displaced, the apartments have been the subject of dozens of stories over the years.
This incident is one of many to plague the troubled apartment complex. Memphis Police say they responded to Peppertree more than 1,600 times between March 2020 and October 2021.
Less than a year ago, a public nuisance petition was granted. Since then, the owners have spent months in and out of court.
The owners of Peppertree are in environmental court Friday and WREG will update once more information is available.