Water damage from sprinkler system displaces residents from 30 apartments following kitchen fire in Chesapeake

A sprinkler system damaged at least 30 apartment units in Chesapeake on Saturday while extinguishing a kitchen fire.

Chesapeake firefighters were called to the blaze at 1:36 p.m. at the Herons Landing complex in the 2100 block of South Military Highway in the city’s Portlock section.

Crews found the building had already been evacuated, and the fire was put out by the building’s sprinkler system.

The fire department said in a news release that the fire started in the kitchen of a third-floor unit. Investigators ruled that it was accidental.

One person inside the unit had minor injuries from the fire and was taken to a local hospital for treatment, according to the department.

The sprinkler system damaged units on all three of the building’s floors and “compromised” the electrical system in many of the units. The department said 30 of the apartment complex’s 57 units could not be reoccupied Saturday.

Property management was helping to relocate the people who were displaced, according to the fire department.

Jessica Nolte, 757-912-1675, jnolte@dailypress.com