NORFOLK, Va. — The American Red Cross of Virginia is helping 18 people who were displaced Thursday night after a fire destroyed eight apartments in South Norfolk.
Those living in those apartments tell News 3 they feel like they're starting over from scratch.
"Especially us with children, we lost everything except for our lives," said a mother who did not want to be identified.
That mother said she was at her kitchen table with her kids when she started smelling smoke.
"A good samaritan knocked on my door. He was banging on my door, 'Get out, get out. It's a fire,'" the woman said.
She said the man grabbed one of her kids and they ran out to the parking lot.
"I see the black smoke, then I see it gulf up real bad from one apartment to another," the woman said. "To the one over and you couldn't tell which one was exactly on fire."
The woman said her neighbors made sure everyone was out as fire crews began to extinguish the flames.
The American Red Cross put the woman and many others in a hotel for the evening.
“Our team is working to provide for the immediate needs of the eight families displaced by this fire,” said Jonathan McNamara, communications director of the American Red Cross of Virginia. "Our team will not only provide these families with resources from the Red Cross, but also work to connect them with additional community support as they start the recovery process.”
While those tenants are thankful for the support, they said their kids know it's not home.
"My son said, 'Mama, I'm ready to go home now,' and I couldn't do nothing but bust out crying," the woman said.
Other parents in the apartment building said all they have left are the clothes on their backs from when they ran out of their home. They said they don't even know how they're going to make it through the end of this year.
"All my kids' Christmas stuff was inside and most of my kids' stuff was in there," two women said.
As the cause of the fire still remains under investigation, neighbors like the Metropolitan AME Zion Church are trying to do anything they can to help these families get through the holiday and back on their feet.
"This is a tragedy happening right here at Christmas, and I do want to say that we are going to take care of these kids that are going to wake up on Christmas Day without toys," Rev. Darwin Little said. "We're going to make sure that they are taken care of and we are going to help these families in any way possible..."
The church will be collecting clothing and kids toys for these families from 5 p.m. on Friday through Saturday afternoon.
On Saturday at 2:30 p.m., the church will be holding a toy drive where those families impacted by the fire will be first to receive new toys.
