Cause of apartments fire remains under investigation
Published 5:40 pm Wednesday, March 1, 2023
- PHOTO BY BRETT CAMPBELL / A midnight fire on East Chippewa Street consumed the majority of a Brookhaven Housing Authority apartment complex.
Sunday’s fire at the Brookwood Apartment Complex is under investigation by the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
“When we confirmed there was a fatality, we immediately called the State Fire Marshal’s Office,” Brookhaven Fire Chief Jeff Ainsworth said. “They sent an investigator and his supervisor as soon as possible, and a fire investigator from Gulfport came, as well.”
Ainsworth said the Marshal’s Office is completely in charge of the investigation, and will meet with local authorities later this week.
“We will do as much legwork for them as they need us to and as we are capable of doing,” Ainsworth said. “But they are doing things we don’t know anything about.”
A SFM investigator said he could not comment on a case still under investigation, and a statement from the office said the same.
Though the coroner has not been cleared to release names of the two residents who died as a result of the fire, comments from friends and family on social media have identified one as Terrance Lewis, a former student and employee of the Brookhaven School District and a “super fan” of Panther sports.
The District posted the following on its Facebook page Tuesday: “The Brookhaven School District would like to recognize the passing of Terrance Lewis in the tragic fire that took the life of another individual and displaced several others this past weekend. Our thoughts and support are with the families of those who were lost and each person affected.”