Women's Clothing Boutique in Morrisville, NC

MORRISVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) — Fire inspections were completed Wednesday at the Camden Westwood apartment complex in Morrisville, just over a week after one of its buildings erupted in flames, displacing 70 people.

“The wind conditions that night took that fire and accelerated it,” said Morrisville Fire Marshal, Charles Eldridge.

CBS 17 Investigates has looked through previous inspection documents for the apartment complex. Those reports for the building that caught fire note “deficiencies” in the fire sprinkler report, in both November and December.

Town officials said the fire suppression systems worked properly when the fire happened last week in the 2200 building.

“The 2200 building did have a main drain issue, and it did not impede on the sprinkler system at all,” Eldridge told CBS 17 Investigates.

Documents note some other violations for other buildings on site over the years. Eldridge told CBS 17 that all previous issues were fixed, but an inspector found other violations on Wednesday. However, he said they aren’t critical or a safety concern.

“Right now, there’s 18 buildings, and I would say probably 14 of them have either a backflow or other type of deficiency.”

He said the backflow issues for drains can be common, and a third-party company is working to fix the issues. “We see that a lot. We’re blessed here to have the water supply that we do. But with so much construction going on around town, we do find that these back flows do get trash in them. And a lot of what’s coming from construction around this property or other properties.”

Eldridge tells us an official cause of the fire hasn’t been determined. It remains under investigation.

They told CBS 17 Investigates that one person was released from the hospital after a few hours, and the other person was treated at a burn unit. However, no additional updates are being provided at this time due to respect for their privacy.

They also noted previously listed deficiencies were not related to fire suppression systems on the property.

Harris Teeter is closing another grocery store in the Triangle.

Headquartered in Matthews, North Carolina, the grocer is shutting down its location at 4093 Davis Drive in Morrisville, in the McCrimmon Corners shopping center.

This is Harris Teeter’s only location in Morrisville, a town with an estimated population of around 32,600 in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Harris Teeter has several nearby stores in Cary, as well as many others throughout the Triangle. The McCrimmon Corners store is also within a few miles of several other major grocery chains, including Wegmans, Food Lion, Walmart, Whole Foods Market and Target.

The store’s last day will be on or before April 17, Harris Teeter told The News & Observer in an email.

Harris Teeter did not give a specific reason for closing the store, which also has a pharmacy and a Starbucks, but said the decision was made “after careful consideration and strategic market review.”

The Morrisville store employs around 70-80 associates, who began learning of the closure in mid-February. They will be offered an opportunity to transfer to other locations, Harris Teeter said.

McCrimmon Corners is also home to retailers including Pizza Hut and Petland.

Harris Teeter store closures

This is the second Harris Teeter location in the Triangle to close in recent months.

The chain’s Raleigh location at 5563 Western Blvd. closed last summer, as did three other Harris Teeter stores in Virginia and one in Maryland.

“Harris Teeter made a strategic decision to close these locations only after careful consideration,” the company said in a statement to The N&O at the time.

Kroger, Harris Teeter’s parent company, announced last June that it would close 60 locations by December 2026, USA Today previously reported.

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In another instance of AI carving into white-collar work, North Carolina has ended a long-running incentive for the Morrisville software provider Relias to create hundreds of jobs in Wake County after the company attributed its hiring shortfall to artificial intelligence automation.

Relias, which offers training and administrative platforms to health care workers, had created more than 300 local jobs and retained more than 300 others under its 2016 state job development investment grant, which ultimately gave the company $1.3 million in North Carolina tax benefits. To keep this grant alive, however, Relias had to have filled 423 new positions by 2024, a total the company says it couldn’t reach as it adopted new technologies.

“In 2024, we, like many businesses in the area, began growing in our usage in the exciting area of generative AI, with a focus on automation, efficiency and innovation,” Nicole Matteson, Relias’s vice president of human resources, wrote in a February 2025 letter to the N.C. Department of Revenue.

Matteson later stated Relias had identified “areas where Artificial Intelligence could optimize our work product” in explaining reductions to certain technology roles.

The North Carolina Economic Investment Committee voted to cancel the company’s grant during a March 3 meeting in Raleigh.

“North Carolina remains central to our business strategy,” Relias spokesperson Anna Nolte wrote last week in an email to The News & Observer. She said her company currently has 838 U.S. employees, a 62% increase since 2016.

In addition to AI, Nolte noted Relias began permitting more remote work after the COVID-19 pandemic, leading some workers to relocate outside the state, which would make them ineligible toward the grant requirements. Yet she said more than 75% of the company’s workforce still resides in the Triangle.

AI disrupts Triangle tech hires

Founded in 2012, Relias grew rapidly last decade from its original Cary headquarters. The company went from having fewer than 20 employees to almost 300 in the years before its major expansion announcement, as it offered online training services to nurses, social workers and other staff. Relias has since grown its lineup of health care solutions to include recruitment, performance measures and public relations.

Now, improving AI tools from companies like OpenAI and Anthropic have tech employers across the Triangle and beyond reexamining their workforce plans. “I don’t think there’s any question that if you’re searching for an entry-level job in software development or (in the) financial activity sector or professional business services, that it’s a lot harder right now than it was two years ago,” Laura Ullrich, economic director at the employment website Indeed, told The N&O last fall.

A few months later, Anthropic’s public release of its Claude Code platform ignited new questions about the future of software development in the AI age.

“I hired a lead engineer who told me seven months ago that based on our company’s growth, he would need a team of at least two, three, four (people) by now,” Chip Kennedy, founder of the Raleigh AI voice startup CivicReach, told The N&O in January. “A month ago, because of the progression with Claude Code, because of how we’re using AI to assist in our product building, he said that was no longer necessary.”

IBM, a major and historically significant Triangle employer, has reduced its global headcount in recent years as it invests more in AI. And on Friday, three days after North Carolina terminated its Relias grant, the California financial technology company Block announced it would lay off 4,000 workers as it intended to use artificial intelligence to complete more tasks.

MORRISVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- Through fundraisers and donation drives, the Morrisville community is lending a helping hand to those affected by Monday night's fire at the Camden Westwood Apartments.

The fire moved fast, in part because of the wind, forcing residents to run out of their homes with the clothes on their backs . More than 70 have been displaced, and at least six people were treated for injuries. One of those residents was taken to UNC Hospitals for burns. On Wednesday, officials said that person had been stabilized.

Natalie Wu from Carolinas Asian Alliance said her son, Steve, had an idea after hearing about the fire.

"The community has been really nice to us, and we would like to give back to a community that helped us," he said.

The organization started a donation collection at Acacia Tree Asian Cuisine, less than a mile from the apartment complex.

They're looking to collect nonperishable food items, toys, clothes, and whatever else residents may need.

"I think this is the time we need to get together," she said. "Many people lose their house, lose their home, lose all their belongings. So we're thinking now is the time for us to help here."

Anu Sundar and her family have owned the Sangam Mart off of Chapel Hill Road for more than 20 years.

She said hearing about the fire hit home for her.

"That's the first apartment that we moved in," she said. "My daughter was born there. My parents came there for the first time, so, a lot of memories with that apartment."

Sundar said they didn't hesitate to offer what they could to those in need.

"We knew that we had to do something for the community," she said. "We started with offering food, but I think at this point, anything that they want, we are here for them. They can call us for anything, and we can. We'll do whatever that we can."

Wake County officials told ABC11 that they expect to release more details about the fire on Friday. On Wednesday afternoon, however, the Town of Morrisville provided some new details.

The Office of the State Fire Marshal, Wake County Fire Marshal and Morrisville Fire Marshal have completed their on-site investigation, and it has been turned over to property management," Town spokesperson Erin Hudson said.

Fire officials identified a first-floor balcony as the area where the fire started, but the cause is still under investigation.

The burned building has been taped off to allow for investigative work. Property management will coordinate with residents when it is safe to enter the structure to recover belongings.

ABC11 has more information here with details from the property group about how to support those affected by the fire.

Additionally, donations for displaced residents may be dropped off at any Camden Apartment Property. The Hindu Society of NC will collect donated items from Camden Properties and coordinate with residents for pickup from 124 Clements Drive, Morrisville. For those wanting to help, please send information to westwood@camdenliving.com or call (919) 462-0029.