ST. LOUIS – Some north St. Louis residents are homeless after a fire broke out in their apartment building.
The fire occurred in the 2700 block of Howard Street, located in the Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood, around 8:30 a.m. Friday. Fire officials said when they arrived on the scene, a heavy blaze was coming from the building.
“I woke up hearing the babies screaming saying, ‘It’s a fire, help,’ I woke up and started grabbing my kids out,” said Brandi Roberts.
Residents were already evacuated from the building as fire crews arrived. Several families are without a place to stay and trying to figure out what’s next after their possessions have been destroyed.
“I’m just trying to figure out where we’re going to go. We don’t have nothing,” Roberts said.
Firefighters immediately attacked the fire aggressively to contain it. One unit was completely damaged, while several others had extensive smoke and water damage.
“We had fire showing from the upper floor window,” said Capt. Garon Mosby for the St. Louis Fire Department. “As you can see, that’s where the bulk of the fire was.”
Mosby said he is glad everyone made it to safety.
“It’s always sad when someone loses property. The one silver lining in this is that everyone is ok,” he said.
Authorities said a small child in one unit woke up to the fire in her bedroom and alerted everyone. That apartment did not have a working smoke alarm.
No one was injured.