My friend just lost everything!

[Santa's Helper]

I just found out that my husband's and my friend just lost everything in a fire. He lived in an apartment and there are about 7 buildings on fire right now and his is one of them. I'm thankful that he is out and is ok and that his son wasn't with him when this happend. He's devastated, he was supposed to move by me in the 2nd week of Feb. Now he's lost everything. Just made it out with the clothes on his back. I feel so badly for him. My husband and his friend just left to go and see how he's doing and if he needs to stay with us. I just can't believe this.

[lmm8606]

Oh how horrible :( I'm so sorry for your friend. One of my biggest fears is losing everything to a fire :(

[HolidayHoney]

I am so sorry to hear this...and happy to hear that he wasn't hurt. He is lucky to have friends like you guys who are willing to help. Do you think he had renters insurance??

[Santa's Helper]

I don't know if he had any insurance or not. My husband said he doubts that he did but, I don't know. We're setting up a fund acct. through the fire dept. tomorrow morning at the bank that the fire dept. uses. We're going to try to get donations sent there for him and maybe do a boot drive or something for him. I just packed him a big bag of clothes and a jacket, hat, shoes, toothbrush, toothpaste and deodorant. Stuff like that because he really had nothing. Just what he was wearing and he had a blanket to wrap up in. So, we didn't know if he had shoes or not so we gave him a pair of my husbands because my husband is always getting new shoes before the old ones wear out so they were still pretty good. Some of the clothes we gave him were brand new but, most of them were old. I think my husband and his friend are going to Wal-Mart to pick up stuff like socks and underware for him and maybe a pair of jeans and a new shirt too. I'm just glad that he got out ok, had no pets and that his 3 year old son wasn't there with him. I don't know where he's staying tonight so I might wake up in the morning with him on the couch, which is ok with me. He may go to his parents house though. Thanks for the support and concern for our friend. Denise

[Santa's Helper]

Here's a cell phone video of the fire that is still going on since this afternoon.

http://kdka.com/video/?id=51364@kdka.dayport.com (mhtml:{017EB473-BA5E-4AA8-8CB6-148144305B15}mid://00000000/!x-usc:http://kdka.com/video/?id=51364@kdka.dayport.com)

[Maebeary]

How horrible! One of my biggest fears is a fire in my house. I hope he's covered with everything. I'll say a prayer for him.

[Santa's Helper]

Here's another video. The guy being interviewed in the video is my friend, Jimmy.

http://kdka.com/video/?id=51374@kdka.dayport.com (mhtml:{017EB473-BA5E-4AA8-8CB6-148144305B15}mid://00000000/!x-usc:http://kdka.com/video/?id=51374@kdka.dayport.com)

[Head Elf]

Sorry to hear about your friend, I don't know what I would do if I lost all my pictures or just about everything. You are an angel to help like you are doing, most people would say sorry and walk away.... sending prayers his way and thank heaven that his little boy wasn't with him. You are a blessing....

[trackrebel]

glad he got out and the boy wasn´t with him....that said...it´s a terrible and tragic thing to happen...I will pray for him that he will be doing alright...I also hope he had insurance...that would make it at least a little bit easier

I´m so terrified of fires...this is so terrible for Your friend to happen

[kelly ann]

Thank God he got out alive thats the main thing!!!

[snowytree]

Im so sorry to hear this, how horrible!! I know how this is a little, my mom's van caught on fire while we were moving and we lost just about everything, especially all the pictures. Im glad he made it out alive. I hope for better days for him soon!

[Meceka]

I'm so sorry to hear of your friend's recent loss. My thoughts and prayers go out to him.

[kerst]

Wow, that's frightening ! Having to start all over again takes lots of courage. He'll need all the support he can get. Thank goodness he has friends like you !

[Santa's Helper]

My husband came home from visiting with him at 4 am this morning. He decided to stay with his parents. No word on whether he had insurance or not. There is a furniture outlet store near here and I think that after we get the donations going we'll probably take him there to pick up some new furniture and of course he'll need all new clothes. I just feel bad that he lost stuff that his grandfather left to him. His grandfather died and he was close with him. He also lost pictures which can't be replaced and is in a bitter custody battle over his son. He's got a lot on his plate already and now this happens. I'm sure he'll bounce back but, I'm sure he's still shaken. He said if it wasn't for his neighbor coming to wake him to go and get some dinner he would have probably died in the fire because he was asleep and would have probably kept sleeping until the smoke overcame him. It was a really intense fire. He's lucky to be out and alive. Thanks everyone for your wonderful posts.

[sgrover]

Wow, I watched those video clips, amazing. I'm glad no one was seriously injured or died. But so many people are without homes now.

Your friend is fortunately to have good friends like you. Hopefully he'll be able to find another place to live and start putting the pieces back together. My thoughts and prayers are with him.

[Santa's Helper]

Thank you, he's still planning on moving back to my area in Feb. at this point. He lost his car in that fire as well.

[Maureen]

Glad to hear he's safe. What a horrible thing to happen to him but it's great he has friends like you to rally round.

[Christmasstar]

That happend to us when my kids were small and you just go into shock for awhile. I hope he had insurance, we did and while that did not replace the special memory things, it at least replaced our furniture etc.
He will walk around in a daze for awhile and need lots of hugs and someone to listen to him, which it sounds like you will be very good at.
Things will not begin to settle down for him until he gets into his own place again. It is great that he has friends to help him through this.

[Santa's Helper]

He had no insurance. My husband just told me that. We're already getting some things in order for him. I got an offer from someone on the boards here to donate some clothes if they will fit him and I know others will step in (friends, family) and help out as they can. Thank you for your kind words.

[MsChristmas]

That is so sad, Im glad that no one was injured but Im sorry to hear that he didnt have Renters Insurance.

[SparkleNana]

Having friends like you and your husband is so wonderful! And - having his parents nearby too. Renters insurance does not cost too much - I think it is under $200 a year . But - in a terrible economy like this -- renters insurance is beyond the reach of many people.

[Santa's Helper]

I'm sure he will get insurance now after all of this! My mom had not had renters insurance for 26 years and then when she bought her car she switched insurance companies and they threw it on there without asking her. I asked her if it was affordable for her and she said yeah so I told her to just keep it. So, I feel better knowing that she has it especially since she lives in an apartment building now. Before she always rented a house. My brother has it too which is nice to know as well.

[JOHNOR]

i'm so sorry for your friend, but it will all work out, it always does.

thank god no one was killed.

[JanaBanana]

So sorry :( Thats horrible... thank god the neighbor woke him up!

[novelist]

:rudolph:That is so sad about the fire, but at least your friend is alive. Things we own could always be replaced, not someone's life. Hope everything works out for him.

[Annette1990]

I feel for your friend. I agree that Thank God he made it out alive but what a terrible ordeal to have to face. I will keep your friend in my thoughts in hopes everything works out for him.

[Santa's Helper]

I spoke with him today and he's still pretty emotional. He said it's hard to know where to start. He needs everything and not just material stuff. Documents were lost so he has to start there as well. He's most upset about the things that can't be replaced. He said his 1st rosary beads from his 1st holy communion are gone. Stuff he had from his grandfather that he wanted to pass on to his son are gone. There's just all kinds of stuff. Getting out with your life is the 1st priority but, after you are out you can't help but think of all of the stuff you just lost. It's his entire life! He's just trying to figure out where to start first. He's was crying on the phone with me this morning and I feel so terribly for him. Thanks again for all of the kind words and prayers.

[Boogedy]

I am so sorry to hear this! Very glad though that everyone is safe.

[Christmasstar]

I spoke with him today and he's still pretty emotional. He said it's hard to know where to start. He needs everything and not just material stuff. Documents were lost so he has to start there as well. He's most upset about the things that can't be replaced. He said his 1st rosary beads from his 1st holy communion are gone. Stuff he had from his grandfather that he wanted to pass on to his son are gone. There's just all kinds of stuff. Getting out with your life is the 1st priority but, after you are out you can't help but think of all of the stuff you just lost. It's his entire life! He's just trying to figure out where to start first. He's was crying on the phone with me this morning and I feel so terribly for him. Thanks again for all of the kind words and prayers.
any chance of being able to go through the rubble and see if anything survived the fire?

[Santa's Helper]

any chance of being able to go through the rubble and see if anything survived the fire?

I don't know if they are allowed to get into the building at all. It was so bad that 1 of the buildings went completely to the ground. I don't know if there is anything that could be found.

[pkcrafty]

Prayers for your friend and hope that love and support from family and friends like you will give them much comfort. Such a sad time for them, I know.

[Faith4always]

Poor guy. I couldn't get the videos to come up for me.
Do they know what caused the fire?