Residents who lost everything in apartment fire speak out, asks for help

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. ( WHNT ) — Tiffany Steinacher and Shannon King described the last 48 hours as a horrific reality that’s turned their lives upside down after losing everything in an apartment fire early Monday morning.

“Looking at it now, it’s just not even there I mean, that used to be our home,” Steinacher said.

King and Steinacher woke up to the morning blaze realizing they were in grave danger. The couple remembers the smell of smoke, comparing it to an unthinkable nightmare that they were living in real-time.

“We got up and looked around and when reality hit, it turned into panic pretty fast,” Steinacher explained.

The cause of the fire has yet to be determined, but a life full of memories was taken away by the flames, including their leopard gecko Apollo and their cat Mystic who is still missing.

“Things that are irreplaceable, we have relatives that have passed away, we’re actually from South Carolina so things that were from home,” King said. “It’s like everything is taken away from you and it’s something that you didn’t do you’re not at fault for and have no control over.”

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Both are staying with family and explained how their neighbors who were also affected by the incident are getting temporary housing at the Fern Parc Apartment Complex where the fire occurred and the American Red Cross.

They said the community’s support has given them a dose of positivity during a time they need it most, but what’s hard to accept is knowing their lives may never be the same.

“We couldn’t save the scorpion or the lizard and I don’t even know if the cat got out,” Steinacher said. “I really hope he did but it feels really almost dystopian.”

Fern Parc Apartments will be accepting physical donations like clothes that can be dropped off at the complex in Huntsville.

A GoFundMe to help King and Steinacher recover can be found here .

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