WFD responded to car fire in parking deck in downtown Wilmington

January 28, 2026

WWAY News,

Parking Deck Fire Wfd — Parking deck fire on North 2nd Street (Photo: Kamy Smelser / WWAY News)

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The Wilmington Fire Department responded to a fire in a parking deck in downtown Wilmington on Wednesday.

Around 1 p.m. crews responded to the parking deck on 2nd Street and Chestnut Street. The parking deck is located next to the old New Hanover County Public Main Library.

WFD says the fire was located on the fifth floor and was started by a car.

Matt Cvitkovich is a welder who was working on the fifth floor of the deck when the fire started.

He says he noticed the fifth-floor billowing with smoke after they evacuated.

“Superintendent came running over saying something was on fire, we were kind of shocked, surprised looking around, and he said ‘get out now’ parking deck is on fire, the building is on fire,” Cvitkovich said.

The fire was put out around 2:30 p.m. according to the WFD.

No injuries were reported.

Grace, Third, Chestnut, and 2nd Streets were temporarily block off but have since reopened.

In a social media post, the New Hanover County Public Library posted that the main library was closed due to the fire and re-opened around 3:15 p.m.