Wrens apartment fire displaces 18: ‘Everything is just destroyed’
WRENS, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Eighteen people are displaced from their homes after a fire at an apartment complex in Wrens.
It happened Tuesday at Pine Valley Apartments. Investigators believe the fire started in the kitchen on one apartment, but the fire chief tells us the investigation is still underway.
Now the community is stepping up to lend a hand.
Right now, it’s a waiting game for these families with no word on when they’ll be able to collect their things. Right now, it’s too dangerous to go back inside and get whatever’s left.
Lashunda Boatwright walked us toward her home, reflecting on everything lost.
“I got a lot of smoke damage. A lot of water. So everything is just destroyed. There’s really nothing that I can save,” she said.
While flames overtook this building, her daughter was fast asleep upstairs.
“But he got her out in time, and I thank God for my son,” she said.
Everyone made it out alive. But what didn’t make it out was their belongings. Boatwright still has no idea what’s left inside.
“Some stuff probably could have been saved, some stuff probably couldn’t, but you need to let us know when we can get in and walk in the house,” she said.
It was there that Boatwright learned whatever she has left might never make it out. The building could collapse on everything she owns.
“We’ve got pictures and everything in there of our loved ones. It’s a hurting thing. It’s hurting,” she said.
But while the apartments are frozen in time and the smell of smoke lingers in the air, and if you look close, there’s a message in the rubble a single cross rising from the ashes.
“God don’t make no mistakes, y’all,” she said. “Long as we’re still here.”
We spoke with the fire department.
The state fire marshal will be at the scene Thursday. Authorities say they are still working on figuring out what exactly happened and that they are getting two different stories from tenants.
How to help
The community is coming together to help up to eight families displaced by the fire at the Pine Valley Apartments.
Eighteen people in total are reportedly without a home now after the fire consumed all of Building B at the complex, 101 Kings Mill Road.
A GoFundMe drive has been launched and the Wadley Police Department is holding a clothing drive to help the families who lost everything in the blaze.
Wadley Police Chief Tommy Walker Jr. said in a Facebook Live video that although the two communities are different, both are in Jefferson County.
“We want to do all that we can to help our brothers and sisters who are in another town but yet we’re still connected,” Walker said.
There are two safe drop-off locations where donors can be sure the affected families will what is given, organizers said:
- The police station at 22 N. Main St. in Wadley, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
- The State Farm office at 101 School St. in Wrens, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Organizers put together this list of needed sizes:
- Women’s shirts sizes small, medium, large, XL, 3X
- Women’s pants sizes 2X, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14-medium, 22/24
- Women’s shoes sizes 7, 8, 8½, 9, 12
- Girls shirts size 7
- Girls pants sizes 6, 7
- Girls shoes sizes 2, 3
- Men’s shirts sizes medium, large, XL, 2X, 3X
- Men’s pants sizes 36-38, 38-40, 42-44, 30X32, 34X32,
- Men’s shoes sizes 7½, 9, 9½, 10, 12, 13
“Fairly new would be great,” the police chief said, but “brand-new would be awesome.”
The police chief noted that with cooler weather arriving, jackets will be needed, as well.
“Please keep the families in your prayers,” Walker said.
If you’re interested in donating financially, a GoFundMe A GoFundMe campaign has been launched at https://gofund.me/e6f66792.
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