GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — At least two dozen people are about the lose the assistance the Red Cross provided and are working to figure out where to go after flames destroyed their condominium on Lawndale Drive in Greensboro.
FOX8 learned an immigrant family from Jerusalem was in one of the units.
They have no family here and don’t know what they are going to do. They just moved into their condo in January and finished putting furniture in a few days ago.
The fire left nothing unscathed.
As Khalim Mushahwar looked at this condo covered in soot, he did not have many words to share.
“I’m still in shock,” he said.
Friday around 6:30 p.m., Mushahwar headed to the grocery store down the street.
He saw fire trucks speeding towards the Somerset Village Condominiums.
When he returned, he saw flames shooting into the air and the place he called home being destroyed.
“I wasn’t expecting it to be our apartment. I came back, and the whole building was on fire,” he said.
The chair he used to sit on outside is now being used to hold up the yellow tape blocking off the building.
Mushahwar walked a few feet over to the car he and his brother have been living in for the last three days.
“What wasn’t damaged by the fire was damaged by the water,” he said.
The ceiling buckled because of the water. The lower units of the 5004 building were flooded.
When I look at this…I’m speechless,” Robbie Kirby said.
Kirby lived here with his 81-year-old mother with dementia.
“Everybody is like hanging high and dry right now. It’s not like this is going to be fixed in a day or two or even next month, so now I’m thinking ‘do I need to go out and get an apartment?'” Kirby said.
He plans to stay with family for a while but knows it’s only temporary.
“We’re faced with this big problem here. What do we do next?” he said.
There’s a fence up now around the building to make sure no one tries to go back inside.
Until earlier this afternoon, we heard the smoke alarms beeping.
As for the cause of the fire, no determination has been made yet. We only know natural gas fueled it.
FOX8 received emails and calls about problems with the fire sprinkler system in the building.
Investigators say there were no issues and the manager of the complex sent out an email late Monday afternoon saying: “Please know that according to the Greensboro Fire Investigator, the fire sprinkler system in the 5004 building worked fine.”
There is a Home Owner’s Association meeting planned for Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Law Firm Carolinas at 3623 N. Elm St. #200 to answer victims’ questions and help them move forward after this devastating fire.
