More than a dozen people have been displaced after a fire ripped through two homes in Waltham, Massachusetts on Thanksgiving.
Residents were able to re-enter the charred homes to pick up their belongings. One resident retrieved documents that were soaked from the water used to extinguish the flames.
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Fire crews battles flames on Moody Street Thursday evening that left two apartment buildings uninhabitable and scorched two others.
"The flames were 20 feet above the building that I stand in front of right now," Waltham Ward 8 City Councilor Cathy Ann Harris said on Friday. "It is a miracle that only two buildings were impacted out of the four."
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Everyone in the affected homes escaped safely.
"I gotta figure out where I’m going to move everything to, what I can keep, what I can’t keep. It’s totally changing my life," said Joe Niedbala, a10-year resident.
"I know everybody up and down, most of the business owners, all of the restaurant owners and servers and stuff are my friends and family. They are very close to me, so this is important for me to preservere," said Niedbala.
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Another resident, Yassine Berzouz, was at work when he got the call that the building he lived in was on fire.
"It’s a tough situation. I’m working today but I need to take off to figure out like where I’m going to sleep tonight," said Berzouz.
Berzouz says he's grateful for the community organizations that provided him help to stay at a hotel overnight, but he's worried finding a new home will be tough.
"I don’t know what’s going to happen next hopefully someone gives us a hand, help or something at least to find a place to stay you know. I don’t want to sleep in my car," said Berzouz.
Harris says anyone who wants to help could consider donating to the Red Cross and The Salvation Army, which is offering support to the displaced residents.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
