The community supports fire sacrifices after two dozen people were displaced

O'fallon, Mon (first alarm 4) – Jessie Henry, her mother and fiance were on the way back from dinner on Saturday evening when they saw flames on their street.

“We saw all the smoke and thought, 'Please tell us that this is not our house,” she said. “We counted one, two, three, four and” Oh no, this is our house. “

The apartment she shared with her mother for twelve years was on fire.

“We lost our pianos, guitars, our drums, my mother is a piano teacher, I am a musician, I lost over 30 paintings that I worked on,” said Henry. “It is really tragic, I wouldn't wish anyone.”

The damage is on every floor of the building. The Wentzville Fire Protection District said the cause of the fire was unknown. Officials said while the building had a fire -sprinkling system, the fire lay on the outer wall and penetrated into the attic and ventilated through the roof where there are no sprinkler heads.

Nobody was injured, but all 12 units are uninhabitable.

Amy Thornton lives near the building. She met Henry and her mother in the middle of chaos.

“She said that this is her house and she told me something about a piano and that was that of her mother,” she said. “This is accused with me because the family is very in music and we all play all instruments and I only thought of them all night.”

On Sunday morning, Thornton and other neighbors started the collection of donations and started a gofundme to support those whose apartments were destroyed. Provisions and clothing quickly overtook the Thornton's house.

“It is difficult to think about what to do next,” said Thornton. “When they are winter, they don't see many people on the street, but it is really heartwarming to see that people in this community only come together in their time.”

While Henry and her mother are working on building up again, she is grateful for the support of her neighbors.

“I am so grateful that all these people came together, the community that I will simply remain positive, as I always do,” she said. “In the middle of the ashes, this is important, which is not the material, not money that is friendliness and love that is shown in the community that is really important.”

The gofundme can be found here.

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