SYLACAUGA, Ala. (WIAT) — A large apartment fire in Sylacauga that happened Monday evening leaves eight families without a place to call home.
The Sylacauga Fire Chief Nate Osgood said firefighters believe the fire at the Autumn Trace apartments was accidental and originated in a second-floor unit. The investigation into the cause is ongoing as of Tuesday.
Osgood said the upper four units suffered significant fire damage, while the lower four units suffered smoke and water damage. The entire building is uninhabitable.
“I was getting ready to prepare a meal for me and my family, and I heard something that sounded like bricks hitting the roof,” Angel Averette-Powell said.
Averette-Powell said a neighbor from up the street named Styx pounded on her door last night.
“He was telling us to get out because the roof is on fire,” Averette-Powell said.
Averette-Powell’s three daughters and husband said they watched as the place they’ve called home for 10 years burned.
“I didn’t care about nothing in the apartment but the memories of my father, my husband’s mother, just those pictures and just the memories,” Averette-Powell said.
Powell said the family spent the night at the Towne Inn after the First Baptist Church of Sylacauga offered rooms for families affected by the fire. Bulldog BBQ in Sylacauga provided families with lunch Tuesday, and Brown Butter Bakery and Cafe will provide families with dinner all week.
“Grateful, very grateful to be out here alive,” Averette-Powell said. “That can be replaced, the memories are stored in our heart, but we’re very grateful.”
The American Red Cross set up in the motel lobby to provide assistance to the families displaced by the fire.
A nonprofit called Hatching Hope dropped off disaster relief boxes at the motel. That’s where CBS 42 met Jasmine Ware, who had been out to dinner with her 2-year-old child when she said her nephew contacted her on FaceTime about her apartment building being on fire.
“Well from here, it’s a day-to-day thing,” Ware said. “Just take it one step at a time and thank God that we still have our lives. That’s the most important thing.”
For more information on how you can help the families impacted by this fire through donations, click here for more information from the American Red Cross.
For specific information on clothing and shoe sizes, Kadarious Davis Sr., a local pastor who also works as an appraiser for the Talladega County Commission, has provided a list of needed sizes and items for family. You can click here to see the list on Facebook.
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