Manchester residents start to rebuild after devastating apartment fire

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Dozens of people are still scrambling to make sense of their lives after a massive fire gutted more than thirty-five apartment units.

In all, about 70 people lost all of their belongings in the fire. Kathy Freeman struggling to accept the aftermath of this apartment fire.

It started at around 3 a.m. on Friday. Freeman said that she was hoping the fire alarm was going off because a neighbor burned their food while cooking. That wasn’t the case.

“I literally made it out with my dog in my arms and that’s it,” Freeman said. “Shorts and a tank top.”

Freeman added that she’s a parent, with many physical photos of her children getting lost in the blaze. She said that her mother’s ashes were also lost.

“I got up and no more made it to the bathroom and bangin’ on the door,” Freeman said. “It was the police getting everybody out. The building was on fire.”

Freeman was only able to grab her dog at the time of the fire, leaving her cats behind in the process. However, as of Monday, Freeman was able to be reunited with her cats.

Joshua Catlett, her son, doesn’t live at the apartment complex, but remembered getting the news.

“I immediately called Mom. She answered the phone and that was a huge relief,” Catlett said. “I asked her if she wanted me to come home and she said, ‘Yes.’ That’s all I needed to hear. I took off.”

Jennifer Jordan, her husband, and her kids live in the complex too. They’re waiting to get back into their unit to see if anything is left. Jordan said she’s talked with her neighbors who are also displaced.

“It was very loud. And then, as soon as we got out not even five minutes later, it flamed all the way up to the roof,” Jordan said.

Luckily, no one was hurt. Jordan checked in on her neighbors following the fire.

“Some of them are doing good,” Jordan said. “Some of them are hanging in there. We all are trying to hang in there, really.”

Investigators said that this was probably an electrical fire that started in a vacant unit.

The Red Cross and the Dusty Elam Foundation , a non-profit headquartered in Manchester, are helping the victims.

The Dust Elam Foundation helps support those with special needs, and others, in the community.

You can donate to a GoFundMe to support Freeman’s recovery here . You can donate to a GoFundMe to support Jordan’s family here .

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