BLACKSBURG, Va. – More than four months after a massive fire tore through the 3400 building at Foxridge Apartment Complex, the people who lived there are still picking up the pieces — and now they’re running out of time.
The building is scheduled for demolition April 6. For residents like Yumei Mu and Yashu Garuzada, that deadline carries a weight that goes far beyond bricks and drywall. Their belongings, their memories, and some of their sense of safety are still inside.
“I will remember it for the rest of my life,” Mu said. “And I will remember the experiences me and my son have gone through.”
A fire, a weak voice, and a race to get out
The fire broke out on Dec. 1, 2025. The blaze displaced more than 60 residents and gutted what had been 12 apartments home to Hokie students, young professionals, and families.
Mu says she was still awake — reading a book — when she heard something that saved her life.
“I heard a weak voice, only once, saying fire,” she said. “The neighbor’s door was open, heavy smokes were coming out. Then I immediately woke up my son. He didn’t know what was happening, he didn’t want to get up. I got so scared. My son had no socks, no underwear, he was only wearing a thin shirt.”
She says she nearly didn’t make it out at all.
“I could have been killed because the fire started in their living room,” Mu said. “Our living room was next to theirs. I couldn’t leave from the door because the fires were coming from the door. It will have blocked our entrance.”
Garuzada, an international Virginia Tech graduate student who also lived in the building, said the scale of the fire didn’t register at first.
“Once I opened the door, I heard people screaming fire and fire! And so I just ran outside — okay, maybe something must have happened, a small fire incident,” she said. “But once I ran out, I saw the scale of the fire. It was very huge. And that’s when I realized, okay, this is a massive fire.”
‘Part of me is killed’
Standing in the cold as it snowed, Mu says she and her son shook — from the temperature and from fear.
The emotional toll has been especially heavy for her young son, who lost his books, toys, Legos, and stuffed animals in the blaze.
“All my belongings are there, they are important, they are part of me,” Mu said. “If I lose them, like part of me is killed. And for my son, he lost all his books, his toys, his Legos, his stuffed animals, and his favorite one. Today, when he thinks about that, he still cries.”
Lasting trauma
The night changed Garuzada in ways she is still processing.
“It is like a trauma response,” she said. “If somebody’s banging on the door — might be something happy — I still think about the worst case scenario. And the worst case scenario is a fire happening. That is a response I realized has changed.”
Unanswered questions about the fire report
Mu says she has also struggled to get answers from Foxridge management about the cause of the fire.
“I talked to the area manager, she said they were waiting for the final fire report,” Mu said. “I called the fire department and they said there are only two reports, those have been shared. There will be no further report. There’s no final fire report from the fire department. Foxridge knows that — they don’t know why they keep telling residents there will be a final fire report.”
WSLS reached out to Foxridge and the Solomon Organization but had not received a response as of publication.
Community steps up
Despite the hardship, both women say the community response has reshaped how they see the world around them.
“In the past I used to admire leaders, celebrities,” Mu said. “Now I think the true heroes are average people. People who care about you, people in your community. They are the true heroes.”
Garuzada echoed that sentiment.
“The community has been amazing. Virginia Tech has been amazing,” she said. “It’s moments like these when you realize what community really means.”
Demolition set for April 6
The building is scheduled to come down April 6. Mu and other former residents say they are still hoping Foxridge and the Solomon Organization will help them recover cherished personal items before demolition begins.
Yumei’s Questions For Foxridge and The Solomon Organization:
- On the evening of December 1st, what happened to the fire alarm in the apartment where the fire first started? I didn’t hear it. Nobody heard it.
- After the first fire, what measures were taken to protect the site?
- And then after the second fire, what measures were taken to protect personal items in the building?
- We lost everything. How could we be okay with that without being properly compensated? It was not natural disaster, my son and I didn’t do anything to endanger the safety or inhabit, inhabitability of the building.
- Demolition begins April the 6th, Some of the items can be salvaged or could still be used. How can we accept that without the chance to recover items?