VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Twenty-one Virginia Beach residents are without homes just days before Christmas after a fire broke out at the Palms Apartments Friday night.
The fire started around 5 p.m. Friday in one of the second-floor apartments at 3600 Malibu Palms Drive, according to the Virginia Beach Fire Department. All residents and pets were safely evacuated from the building.
Gary Kephart, one of the displaced residents, was out grocery shopping when the fire started, but said he's grateful his dog and all of his neighbors made it out safely.
"He was in an ambulance with a paramedic, and she was holding him. And we opened the door, and he spotted me and he almost jumped out of her arms. He was glad to see me," Kephart said.
The emotional toll of losing his home so close to the holidays is still sinking in for Kephart.
"To be honest with you…I haven't even thought about it. That was, the worst thing I–I just couldn't do it," Kephart said.
Community members are already stepping up to help the fire victims. Krystal Mason, a teacher at Malibu Elementary School, brought several bags of donations to the apartments Saturday after learning some of her students were affected by the fire.
"We found out a little bit later through our guidance counselor that some of the students were impacted up here, so that's why I started getting in contact with the PTA of Malibu to see what they needed," Mason said.
Mason donated children's clothing and her own work clothes she no longer wears.
"A lot of it is kids clothes, and then a lot of it is actually like my work clothes, and stuff like that that I've had that either I don't wear very much as often or that's just been sitting in my closet," Mason said.
The Malibu Elementary Parent Teacher Association is organizing donation efforts. They say they are collecting clothes and other items for:
3 Adult Males - between 20-30yrs
2 Adult Males - between 30-40yrs
1 Adult Male - between 65-75yrs
3 Adult Females - between 20-30yrs
1 Adult Female - between 40-50yrs
1 Adult Female - between 65-75yrs
1 Young Adult Female - 18yrs
1 Minor Female - 4 months
1 Minor Female - 7yrs
1 Minor Female - 8yrs
1 Minor Female - 11yrs
1 Minor Male - 14months
1 Minor Male - 18months
2 Minor Males - 3yrs
1 Minor Male - 4yrs
4 Cats
1 Dog
In addition to clothes, members of the Malibu Elementary Parent Teacher Association are also collecting comfort items such as blankets, stockings, mini trees, Christmas stuff, snacks, toys, and stuffed animals. Donations can be dropped off at The Palms leasing office during business hours, or at 3600 Malibu Palms Drive Apt 203 outside of business hours.
In addition to neighborhood help, The Red Cross is providing emergency assistance to the displaced families. Kristopher Dumchat, Regional Communications Manager for the Red Cross of Virginia, explained the support available to fire victims.
"What emergency assistance is, is basically some funds that these individuals and families can use to rent a hotel, meals, clothing, you know things like that that help them through their short term recovery. And then we assign a case worker as well as other specialists to identify needs if they need mental health help, spirtual care, and then our case workers will work with them and help build a long term recovery plan," Dumschat said.
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