5-alarms in Nashville: Fire damages or destroys five homes.

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From the AP:

A  five-alarm blaze in Nashville has destroyed three houses and damaged two others. (The homes are on Wilburn Street between I-24 and Ellington Parkway.)

Assistant Fire Chief Kim Lawson told WSMV-TV the homes in the north side neighborhood are very close together.

Authorities said the fire began in a vacant house that had caught fire before.

Lawson said the fire hydrant was directly in front of a burning house and firefighters couldn’t get to it because of the heat and flames. They had to use water in the pumpers’ tanks and had trouble getting adequate pressure.

The station reported there were no deaths or injuries, but 23 people were displaced. Two of the homes had been separated into apartments.

The fire broke out around 11 p.m. Thursday and firefighters were still on the scene at dawn Friday.