When a massive blaze consumed a three-storey condo building on Friday night, The Salvation Army was ready to help.
Maj. Mike Hoeft said the fire department called The Salvation Army’s Avenue C location at roughly 12:45 am Saturday, less than two hours after crews arrived at the fire in the 300 block of 108th Street West.
“There were a number of folks who were going to need accommodations for the night, so our front desk staff sprang into action,” he said.
Twelve “family units” needed to be prepared for the guests without anywhere to go for the night. By Monday, that number was reduced to two families with the other 10 finding accommodations through family, friends and insurance providers.
“These people lost everything,” Hoeft said. “Many of them coming out of the units without even their wallets or their cellphone and now trying to pick up those pieces of life,” he said.
“It can certainly be very traumatic for people who have experienced this type of loss.”
The fire department said 23 or 24 units in the building were occupied at the time. Damages are estimated at $5 million. Fire crews helped rescue five people inside the units, some of whom had mobility issues.
The building did not have a sprinkler system and no one inside the building pulled the fire alarm, which concerned fire chief Morgan Hackl.
“A lot of the early intervention by the public was actually on the exterior of the building alerting the public, and someone inside the building moving throughout the hallways and alerting people by yelling,” Hackl said.
No one was hurt in the fire and Hackl said the investigation is closed with no ends being issued.