BUFFALO, N.Y. — A fire at a high rise on 7th Street in Buffalo on Monday left dozens of families without a place to stay for now. While some were fortunate to spend the night with friends or family, others received help from the American Red Cross.
The Red Cross opened up a shelter at a community center to help people who needed a warm place to stay. Monday morning's fire at the Pine Harbor Apartments in Buffalo impacted 56 units, more than one-hundred people, in the seven story apartment building.
"These people will be taken care of, so it's good," said Thomas Luby, Buffalo Emergency Manager.
The total amount of damage is more than one million dollars. Asarese-Matters Community Center was chosen as a shelter because it has a gym and can fit a lot of people.
"Many of the residents found other places to stay, but certainly there were some that afforded the opportunity that we offered there. What we'll be doing in the next day or so is helping them with their recovery process, so we have case workers and individuals that will sit down with individuals if they will like and will help with their recovery plan," said Ken Turner, American Red Cross, Regional Disaster Officer.
The Red Cross is connecting people with resources to get their lives back together and spiritual services, too.
"We also have spiritual care workers at the community center and are able to meet with them. We also have mental health workers to help because a fire certainly is a stressful thing," said Ken Turner.
This is where disaster training comes into play, according to Luby.
"What we try to do is push everyone to think a little bit outside the box. We force the communication and the coordination with our city partners, federal, state, and county partners, but we're always looking for things that are not the normal. Right? We always have to constantly be changing to the new landscape that's going on and things like this actually validate all the training that's gone through," said Thomas Luby.
The Buffalo Fire Department is still trying to figure out what caused the fire.
Turner said 90% of the workforce at the Red Cross is made up of volunteers. If you're interested in helping out, you can contact the WNY region here to become a volunteer.