DeKalb residents reeling after losing homes to apartment fire: ‘It was tragic’

DeKALB – Seventeen-year-old Jordan Henderson said she didn’t bother to collect her belongings as a fire raged Wednesday at Husky Ridge Apartments, 809 Kimberly Drive, DeKalb.

What came to her mind first and foremost was safety and survival, she said.

“The pipes fell from the roof,” Henderson said Friday. “My room flooded.”

Jennifer Yochem, the city’s community services coordinator, said the city is working hand-in-hand with Family Service Agency of DeKalb County to coordinate support and resources for all the residents displaced by the Husky Ridge Apartment fire.

[ Read more: Almost 4 dozen displaced in DeKalb Husky Ridge apartments fire ]

Volunteers with area nonprofits, agencies and municipalities got together Friday morning to provide clothing, food, housing vouchers, household items, pet supplies and other needed things for the 43 residents who were displaced Wednesday. A fire that broke out at 809 Kimberly Drive at the Husky Ridge Apartments spread to the attic, bringing significant damage and making uninhabitable all 12 units. The relief event was held at the DeKalb Public Library, 309 Oak St.

“Our objective was to get services and goods to families that were displaced as quickly as possible,” Yochem said. “They’ve been displaced. They have nowhere to go. They’ve lost everything. That was our objective.”

“The pipes fell from the roof. My room flooded.”

—  Jordan Henderson

Yochem said she doesn’t feel the city has everything it needs to confront this challenge.

“There’s no emergency housing available,” Yochem said. “That’s our greatest need is for these people to find someplace safe to be. That’s what they deserve. That’s a deficit that the city has. However, as a whole, the city of DeKalb has some really great social service agencies that were able to pull this together within 24 hours and the donations that are coming in monetary, gift cards, clothing, products, goods, diapers, everything is amazing.”

The American Red Cross was summoned to provide assistance to the city, officials said. Northwestern Medicine, Safe Passage Inc., the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of DeKalb, DeKalb School District 428, DeKalb Township and other organizations had items readily available Friday. Agencies had called on the community to help stockpile items to donate for the 10 families displaced.

Those who would still like to donate are invited to call or email the Family Service Agency’s Rylie Loucks-Kues at rlouckskues@fsadekalbcounty.org or call 815-758-8616, ext. 1200. Welcome donations include cash donations, gift cards, personal hygiene products, toys, shelf-stable food items, clothes and more. Many families have small children, including two newborn babies, who were impacted by the fire, officials said.

Multiple agencies from DeKalb and Kane counties responded to the blaze around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Authorities were on the scene for hours into the night, overhauling the building. The most significant damage was in two rear-facing units, including a second-story unit where the fire is believed to have started, DeKalb Fire Chief Mike Thomas said Wednesday.

The building was deemed uninhabitable due to significant fire, smoke, heat and water damage, totaling an estimated $850,000, according to the DeKalb Fire Department.

Authorities did not say as of Friday what had started the fire, Thomas said. Department officials said Thursday the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Henderson said she wasn’t home at the time when the fire initially broke out.

“When the fire started, I had left to go to a friend’s [house],” she said.

The city had issued a community wide alert Wednesday urging people to avoid the area in and around Husky Ridge Apartments.

Henderson said she started to see what looked like smoke. She said she had a feeling that something was going on back home, so she ran back.

“All I could think about was my aunt and little cousin,” Henderson said. “They was on the couch sleeping. The alarm was going off. I knew it was a bad fire.”

Another DeKalb resident displaced by the fire, Makala Frazier, was waiting on a ride to come pick her up from the DeKalb Public Library Friday morning, where the relief event was held.

Frazier expressed grief over her loss.

“It was tragic,” she said. “I can’t find my cats.”