Sam Johnson didn’t see smoke or flames at first on Saturday morning. Instead, what caught his attention was his neighbor, Maceo Jackson, who was outside and in a panic — he was carrying a bucket and he was wearing no jacket or shoes, though the temperature hovered around zero.
Johnson realized Jackson and Yoruba Scott’s home in St. Paul’s West Seventh Street neighborhood was on fire. Everyone made it out of the house safely and Johnson tried to help Jackson, but the fire was a devastating loss for the family.
Now, people in the tight-knit neighborhood are rallying around the family, including fundraising for them.
The fire was one of three residential blazes that St. Paul firefighters responded to during the bitter cold of the weekend and early Monday. No injuries were reported, though people were displaced in each of them, said Deputy Fire Chief Roy Mokosso. The Red Cross is assisting people who didn’t have another place to temporarily stay.
The fires are believed to be accidental and remain under investigation, according to Mokosso.
FIRE ‘WAS TERRIFYING’
The fire at Jackson and Scott’s house on Banfil Street, near the High Bridge and West Seventh Street, happened Saturday morning about 10 a.m.
After the family’s 10- and 17-year-old sons were safely out, as were twin infants and others who were visiting, Johnson said he and Jackson went back inside.
“It was terrifying,” Johnson said. “I had this idea that I was going be able to get in there with a fire extinguisher and get at it before I got more serious. But when I got in the front door … you couldn’t see more than an inch or two into this thick smoke that was blocking the top of the stairs.”
The boys “lost everything but the clothes on their backs,” Johnson wrote on the GoFundMe page for the family.
Scott returned home when firefighters were on her block.
“She was sobbing as a firefighter directed her through the crowd to see her home and find her family,” Johnson wrote. “… Her grief in that moment is difficult to fathom.”
7 DISPLACED IN OTHER FIRES
The other fires that kept St. Paul firefighters busy happened in the North End.
Firefighters responded to the 300 block of West Lawson Avenue about 10:45 p.m. Sunday, where a fire had extended from one house to another. Six people were displaced between the two homes, Mokosso said.
At about 1:15 a.m. Monday, there was a fire in the 1000 block of Cumberland Street. A man in his 60s was able to get out of the home before firefighters arrived.
“These fires are displacing people during a particularly cruel time now when it’s so frigidly cold,” Mokosso said. The cold also makes firefighting more difficult and requires more resources, he added.
HOW TO HELP
The fundraiser for Maceo Jackson and Yoruba Scott can be found at gofundme.com/f/fire-on-banfil-help-the-family-of-maceo-yoruba.
"bitter" - Google News
February 09, 2021 at 09:52AM
https://ift.tt/3juCyJw
3 St. Paul fires during bitter cold displace residents, including family who lost everything - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press
"bitter" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3bZFysT
https://ift.tt/2KSpWvj
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "3 St. Paul fires during bitter cold displace residents, including family who lost everything - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press"
Post a Comment