Fourteen lose homes when downtown Anniston apartment complex burns Monday night
Dec. 27—Local representatives of the American Red Cross were at the scene Tuesday in downtown Anniston to assist residents of an apartment complex destroyed by fire Monday night.
The fire broke out around 9 p.m. Monday in the 1700 block of Wilmer Avenue. The cause was not immediately clear, but the effect was: Approximately 14 people — and an untold number of cats — were left homeless.
"I was just sitting there laying on the couch, I was smelling something burning," said Sherry Nicholson, 58, who lived by herself in the complex. "I thought it was my heaters, and then I opened the front door and one of our tenants was out here saying, 'it's on fire, it's on fire!' it was just blazing up top and it went from there," Nicholson said, "It was just unbelievable, just awful, just horrible."
First responders received a call at 9:02 p.m., according to Anniston Fire Marshal Jason Brown, with firefighters ultimately pouring a million gallons of water on the blaze, according to a water department official.
Officials have reported no fatalities regarding the incident.
"Nobody was injured. No fire personnel were injured, that we know of yet," Brown said.
"Everybody got out OK, a couple of cats got killed but other than that everybody got out," apartment manager Mark Diamond said Tuesday around noon as the scent of ashes wafted in the air.
Curious felines climbed what was left of the gutted structure searching for their owners and what was once their homes as well.
Anniston fire Chief Jeff Waldrep said that though 12 units in the structure at 1726 Wilmer were labeled a total loss, an adjacent building also occupied by tenants would have to be evaluated in the coming days.
Ronnie Swain, 56, lived in the unit that was destroyed by the fire.
"I was laying down dozing off, when I woke up I couldn't even see there was so much smoke, I don't know how it started," Swain said.
Swain instinctively started helping out other residents escape the raging inferno.
"I went and helped everybody else get out, some that could hardly walk," Swain said.
Sanford McKim lived in the apartment complex that was next to the one that burned. McKim, like Swain, helped his neighbors to safety.
"I worked with the fire marshal and the police officer last night doing a count of everybody and making sure we found everybody that no one was left in the apartments," McKim said.
Waldrep said the cause of the fire has not been determined at this time, and the incident is still under investigation.
The Red Cross was assisting the residents who huddled in groups in the parking lot.
Janice St. George, a Red Cross volunteer with the disaster response team, said the team had assisted 15 residents by noon.
"We're out here assisting the residents and we have comfort kits, packages and financial assistance for those who are affected by the fire," she said Tuesday around noon.
St. George said that the Red Cross was still tracking down residents who had left the scene of the fire.
Oxford Fire Department also responded to the scene Monday night and assisted with a ladder truck, Brown said.
Staff Writer Ashley Morrison: 256-236-1551. On Twitter: @AshMorrison1105.
