Durham Firefighter, 24, Dies After Roof Collapse Battling Overnight Blaze

DURHAM, N.C. — A Durham firefighter died early Thursday after part of a burning building collapsed around him, trapping him and two colleagues on the first floor of a multi-tenant residence on the city's east side. Andrew Brokes, 24, had been with the Durham Fire Department for less than a year and a half.

Fire crews were dispatched around 3:15 a.m. to a report of a structure fire in the 400 block of Marly Drive, near South Miami Boulevard, according to a timeline the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation provided to reporters. When the first engines arrived six minutes later, flames were already breaking through the roof. Brokes, assigned to Durham's Fire Station 13, was searching the building for anyone still inside when, at roughly 3:31 a.m., a section of the roof gave way. The collapse brought down the second floor as well, and several firefighters who had been working on the roof and the ground floor were suddenly trapped.

Two other firefighters were hurt in the collapse and taken to the hospital for treatment; both have since been released, Durham officials said. Brokes did not survive. Everyone who had been living in the building got out safely before crews arrived, and no residents were hurt.

Durham Fire Chief Robert Zoldos II confirmed the death publicly within hours, and the department asked state investigators to take over the inquiry into what caused the fire. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation said its agents arrived at the scene around 5:45 a.m. and that its Arson Unit is now leading the examination of the fire's origin and the circumstances of Brokes's death. The cause had not been determined as of Thursday night.

A collapse in minutes, not hours

The numbers from the incident are stark in how little time elapsed. Barely 16 minutes separated the initial call from the moment the structure began to fail, according to the SBI's account, and the department's crews were still establishing their attack when the roof buckled. A Durham Mobile Command Unit arrived roughly an hour after the SBI team, as the scene shifted from active firefighting to a joint fire-and-criminal investigation. By mid-morning, aerial footage showed the building's roof largely gone and the structure gutted.

The building that burned was not a single-family home. Neighbors and a tenant who spoke to WRAL's on-scene crew described it as a converted residence split among several small apartments, with space also used by an addiction-recovery support group that met there three times a week. One woman who had been living in the building was displaced along with her neighbors; friends were putting her up temporarily while she figured out next steps. The recovery group was left searching for a new place to hold its meetings.

A young firefighter, a department in mourning

Brokes joined the Durham Fire Department in May 2025, making him one of the department's newer members. He had been assigned to Tower Company 5, which operates out of Station 13. Colleagues and command staff described him in the hours after his death as dedicated to the work despite how little time he had spent doing it.

"This is a heartbreaking loss for our department, the family, and the entire community," Zoldos said in a statement released by the department. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones and his colleagues, and we ask that you respect the family's privacy during this unimaginably difficult time. The department is standing with and supporting his family in every possible way."

Deputy Chief Chris Iannuzzi, speaking to reporters at the scene later Thursday morning, asked the public for patience as the department and the family grieve. "We just ask that right now, you keep the family and the firefighting community and all the friends and relatives of the deceased and the injured firefighters in your thoughts and prayers," he said.

The loss was felt beyond Durham. Fire departments across North Carolina, including several in the Charlotte area, posted messages of condolence through the day, a show of solidarity common after a line-of-duty death in the state's close-knit fire service. Governor Josh Stein ordered U.S. and North Carolina flags at all state facilities lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset Friday in Brokes's honor.

"Firefighter Brokes sustained fatal injuries while heroically searching for victims inside a burning building. Let us keep his colleagues and loved ones in our thoughts and prayers. May his memory be a blessing." — Gov. Josh Stein

Who is affected, and what happens next

The most immediate effects fall on three groups: Brokes's family and the firefighters who work alongside him at Station 13; the two injured firefighters now recovering at home; and the building's former occupants, who lost their housing and, in the case of the recovery group, a meeting space, with no timeline yet for either to be restored. The Durham Fire Department has not released the names of the two injured firefighters or detailed their conditions beyond saying both were treated and released.

Line-of-duty deaths remain rare in North Carolina relative to the size of its fire service, which is why each one draws a formal response from the state. The North Carolina Office of the State Fire Marshal maintains a registry of firefighters killed in the line of duty, a list the state adds to only a handful of times most years.

For now, the practical next steps sit with the SBI's Arson Unit, which must determine whether the fire started accidentally or was set, and separately, whether the building's construction, renovation history or occupancy contributed to how quickly the roof failed under fire conditions. ABC11's coverage of the investigation noted that the department has not said when it expects findings, and the city has not announced funeral arrangements for Brokes. Durham officials said only that updates would follow as the investigation progresses, and that the department's focus for now is supporting Brokes's family and the firefighters who were on scene with him.