Southeast Fresno apartment fire displaces seven families

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fire destroyed part of an apartment complex in Southeast Fresno on Monday night. Families lost just about everything to fire, smoke and water damage.

Lisa Khang was salvaging some things from her kitchen, where the ceiling had collapsed. "Nothing burned down here, it's just the top and it fell down."

She and her family will stay with relatives.

Others like Doua Thao are being helped by the Red Cross. "We are probably going to go to a motel with the Red Cross helping."

The fire has displaced 7 families, and Thao says they include a lot of children. "I think they have about 6 kids up there, maybe 6 kids right here, 7 kids right here, and I have two kids and another kid above me."

The fire started at around 8 pm Monday on the back patio of a ground floor apartment.

Fresno Fire Department Investigator R.J. Perez says instead of immediately phoning 911, residents scrambled to try and put it out. "Once they discovered the fire they tried their best to extinguish the fire with extinguishers, neighbors came over started bringing more extinguishers."

Residents and their families spent the day trying to recover what they could. One man came to help his elderly father, but there wasn't much to save. "Basically my Dad's clothes, that's it, nothing more."

As devastating as the fire was, for Lisa Khan the relief is that nobody was hurt. "I feel lucky my husband and daughter are safe. Yea so happy."

Fire investigators have not determined how the fire started.

Because many of the families displaced are in the Clovis East area, the schools are accepting donations and have set up a GoFundMe account to help.

LINK: Donate to the "Helping Wolfpack Families In Need" fund

The schools are also collecting cash, checks and gift cards in the main offices at Temperance-Kutner Elementary, Reyburn Intermediate and Clovis East High School.