Saint George fire responded to an apartment fire early Wednesday morning on Manchester Ave. that injured one firefighter and left a local family without a place to call home.
“The first thing was get my kids out. I need to get my kids out. I didn’t want anything to happen to them. Everything that I lost can be replaced but I can’t replace any of them,” said Calandra Sewire.
Sewire and four of her children escaped with just the clothes on their backs. She rushed downstairs to find her apartment gutted by a fire.
“It hurts. I lost everything clothes, shoes for my kids, school supplies, school uniforms everything is gone everything. I have nothing,” said Sewire.
The fire began on the stove, Sewire said, and spread so quickly that by the time firefighters got to the Manchester Ave. apartment, it was already too late.
“And I had to watch everything. I had go up in smoke and there was nothing I could do about it,” said Sewire.
Marcus Castille, one of Sewire’s neighbors immediately grabbed his nephew and ran outside to see what was going on.
“It was just huge. It was a huge fire. You couldn’t really see the building. It was just fire. Flames and smoke everywhere? Yes, I was completely surprised it didn’t spread to the whole building,” said Castille.
Sewire is asking for the community’s help as she tries to rebuild her family’s life.
“Anything would be greatly appreciated right now, I am mainly worried about my kids. I’ll be fine. I’m just worried about my kids, anything will be fine. Anything that you give will be fine,” said Sewire.
According to the Saint George Fire Protection District, the building sustained $125,000 worth of damage. No residents were injured, but one firefighter was treated at the scene for heat-related issues. Please call the American Red Cross at 225-291-4533.