Neighbors and firefighters scrambled to save what they could from the burned-out quadraplex. The sidewalk turned into a temporary storage space. Tenant Cathy Hernandez could only watch helplessly.
"My boss called me on my car phone and told me that my house was on fire. We got here after they'd put it out," she says.
Hernandez and her daughter, Melissa, lost everything in the fire except their cat. Firefighters found the kitten under a bed, shivering and cold but alive.
"She was crying. She was worried because she wasn't going to have her cat," says family friend Donna Taylor. "She doesn't have clothes, but she's got her cat."
A spokesman for the Wilson CountyAmerican Red Crosssays Monday's fire is putting the agency into a deeper financial crunch. The agency averages 20 to 23 fires a year. In the last 12 months, it has assisted in 34 fires, helping families with food and temporary shelter.
If you would like to help out, you can send donations to:American Red CrossWilson-Greene County Chapter509 West Nash StreetWilson, North Carolina 27893252-237-2171
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