Starting over

This crazy week ended with news that my sister's apartment building caught on fire Thursday night. My sister and nephew (Kim and Lee) and her best friend and son (Nita and Hunter) lived next door to each other in a triplex. They were each staying with family while the electricity was out at the apartments, thank goodness!! Nita went over Friday morning to find her apartment completely gone. Kim's apartment burned in the bedrooms and on the ceilings, but had extensive smoke and water damage. We are trying to salvage some clothes for Kim and Lee, but the smoke smell hard to get rid of. I feel so bad for all them, all for different reasons. Lee and Hunter lost everything that makes being a teenager fun--Wii, X Box 360, weights, cool clothes, Christmas and birthday presents. Kim and Nita have to face being a parent who doesn't have a home to take their son to or things to make a place home. I can't imagine having to deal with either of those. But with that said, there is always good out of bad. And, there have been so many friends and some strangers who have offered help and given money and furniture so generously!! I brings me to tears when I think of our generous people are and have been to them. They have a long road ahead with having to start over, but it does seem like it will be a little easier for them with all the support they have already received. Here are some pictures from the apartments.

The front of the apartments. Nita's is on the left, and Kim's is the door that is open. Below is in Lee's bedroom facing what used to be the wall in Nita's room.

Above is the floor in Kim's bedroom. The soot was smelly and soggy.

This is the ceiling going from Lee's bedroom to the living room.

I was surprised that the ceiling fans were still hanging in Kim and Lee's bedrooms.

Nita's apartment from the front. Part of her refrigerator and kitchen chairs were still there, but pretty much everything else was gone. There was a pile of clothes in Nita's bedroom that were still folded and stacked with just burnt edges. Nita said that used to be her dresser, but there was no wood surrounding the clothes, but when she pushed the clothes over there was a layer of wood between the clothes from what was left from the drawers.

This is of the roof line of the apartments. From my understanding, the fire was spreading through the attic to all 3 apartments. The third apartment only suffered some smoke damage.

So far, we don't know how it started, but maybe from when CWL were trying to get the power back on at the apartments. I am so thankful they were not staying there when this happened.