Donations coming in after 7 families displaced in apartment fire

HALEYVILLE    -  Seven families, including one with children, have been displaced after a fire damaged or destroyed up to eight units in Building C of Greeleaf Apartments in Haleyville in the early morning hours of Saturday, Jan. 15.
The fire gutted apartments C14, a downstairs unit where the fire was believed to have started, then spread to upstairs apartment C24, officials said.
On the same side of the building, the roof collapsed in C23, an upstairs unit, while heavy heat and water damage occurred in the downstairs C13 unit, according to Apartment Manager Darrell Robins.
In the same building but across the breezeway and staircase, smoke and water damage occurred to  units C11 and C12 downstairs and C21 and C22 upstairs, he added.
Since C24 was unoccupied, that meant the fire displaced the remaining seven families, including three children ages 13, 12, and 10, according to Robins.
“I would say four or six of the units have fire damage and all of them have some kind of smoke, water or fire damage,” Robins pointed out.
Although all of the affected families were able to escape their units without injury, a visitor to one of the units suffered smoke inhalation and was transported from the scene by ambulance for medical treatment, officials on the scene said.
The five-alarm fire brought response from Haleyville, Pebble, Bear Creek, Delmar and Craft fire departments, as well as the Haleyville Police Department and Regional Paramedical Service Ambulance.
“You could already see the flames,” Robins recalled. “Once I got there, (the fire) had started going up the outside underneath the balcony. It was going from the balcony downstairs to the balcony upstairs and was already going up the side of the building.”
Ironically, a resident in one of the units affected by the fire, moved in two years ago after losing all of their possessions in a house fire, Robins pointed out.
All of the families affected by the fire have lodging set up either with family members or in motels in the area, Robins stated.

The apartment office has become a donation center, where stacks of clothing are being sorted to give to the affected families. Other donated items are toys for the children and personal items, Robins said.
Donations can be dropped off at any time at the laundry room area of the apartment complex, Robins stated.

The apartment business office has set up a food pantry, which is accepting non-perishable food items for the families. Toiletries and personal items are also needed.
The American Red Cross has helped the affected families by providing comfort kits containing needed items, as well as helped make arrangements for alternative lodging, according to Robins.

Clothing sizes for displaced tenants

Clothing sizes for those displaced by the fire include adult female size 2X shirt, 20 jeans, eight shoe;
Adult male size medium shirt, 32X32 pants, 12 shoe/boot;
Adult female size XL shirt, 8-10 pants, 6 1/2 shoe;
Young boy (age 10) size 10, shoe size 4;
 Teenage girl, small shirt, size three pants, size six shoe;
Adult female large shirt/pants, size 8 shoe;
Adult male 38X32 pants, 1X shirt,  size 10 shoe/boot.