'Is my apartment on fire?' After devastating fires, Mt Juliet community raises $120K to help

Mia Kendricks and her partner were a little more than 200 miles away from Mt. Juliet when they watched a fire at Glass Creek Village Apartments change their lives, and those of many others.

On a smartphone.

The images from a doorbell camera were transmitted to her mobile device after they arrived in Georgia to visit family and friends. Kendricks initially thought the phone notifications were routine activity — kids returning home from school moving in and out of the apartment hallway — only to be shocked by the video.

Authorities believe lightning struck the 400 building at the apartment complex on the early afternoon of Aug. 12, causing the fire. Kendricks, hundreds of miles away, watched the frantic scene unfold, complete with evacuation demands and commotion.

"I was in shock and looking at it on camera and said out loud, 'Is my apartment on fire?'” Kendricks said.

Kendricks’ emotions of the moment ranged from uncertainty about her home and belongings to being grateful she and her partner weren’t there. Kendricks had left just hours earlier, and she had convinced her boyfriend, Jokil Dubose, to join her. Otherwise, he may have been at home sleeping after working through the night.

“It was really eerie, and I felt blessed and confused all at the same time,” Kendricks said. “I was in a panic. 'Should we go back? What would we be going back to?'”

Twenty-four units suffered significant damage in the three-story building. No residents were injured.

One firefighter did receive injuries and after the fire. The firefighter was listed in critical condition but “is progressing well and is in good spirits,” Mt. Juliet City Manager Kenny Martin said.

Next steps for roommates: Uncertain

For Kendall Sanders, 25, and his roommates, Cody and Taylor Coburn, the next steps are equally uncertain.

Sanders estimates he lost $25,000-$30,000 in clothes, furniture, music and gaming equipment in the unit he shared with the Coburns.

Sanders was away, working in Sevierville, when the fire started.

An apartment manager banged on the door, warning Cody and Taylor Coburn to evacuate. They got out with two cats, wallets, keys, phones and nothing else.

“It’s OK to be thankful you’re OK, the cats were OK and all living things were OK,” Sanders said. “It’s also OK to grieve … the simple things that were taken away.”

More than $120,000 raised

Nonprofit organization MJ 4 Hope has raised approximately $80,000 for residents and an additional $12,000 for the injured firefighter, executive director Amy Breedlove said.

Also, at least five separate GoFundMe accounts for individuals who lived in the affected Glass Creek building and the injured firefighter’s family total more than $33,000, amounts that continue to rise.

More than 600 families, groups, churches, businesses and individuals have donated to MJ 4 Hope for Glass Creek relief, Breedlove said. Other fundraisers have also been held.

“I have never experienced people caring so much in a situation like this,” Kendricks said.

Residents from 23 units have applied for assistance with MJ 4 Hope, which has distributed $1,000 to a representative at each unit as a first phase, Breedlove said. There will be additional phases for MJ 4 Hope to distribute money.

Kendricks and Dubose initially stayed in a hotel after returning from Georgia and have since been placed in another unit at Glass Creek.

Sanders had renters insurance, but the process and how much will be covered is still “a waiting game,” he said. Sanders was living in a nearby hotel.

“The goal is to get the families back to the way they were,” Breedlove said. “Saturday and Sunday (directly after the fire) these families had no idea what their next steps were.”

Students also impacted

Seven students from five families impacted by the fire attend Wilson County Schools. The district has received $1,000 in cash and gift card donations, Wilson County Schools public information officer Bart Barker said.

Monetary and gift card donations are still being accepted at the Administrative and Training Complex, 415 Harding Drive, Lebanon, 37087, or Springdale Elementary, 5675 Central Pike, Mt. Juliet, 37122. Checks should be made payable to Wilson County Schools, with a line item to indicate Glass Creek Apartment Fire.

Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com or 615-726-5939 and on Twitter @ AndyHumbles.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Mt Juliet neighbors raise $120K after Glass Creek apartment fire