Picture the contents of your home right now, and then imagine it’s all gone — destroyed.
That’s what dozens of residents of an apartment building in the Woodmore area of Prince George’s County came home to on June 29.
A fire, and the water used to extinguish it, left their building uninhabitable and their lives upended. Adding to this trauma, many said they’re having trouble getting insurance claims filed.
Dayna Fields lived on the top floor of the Woodmore Apartments on Ruby Lockhart Drive with her 15-year old son for only two months before the fire.
They’re now staying with friends as she navigates a renter’s insurance claim and trying to find another place to live in a tight rental market.
“I lost everything,” Fields said. “I lost my sense of safety, I lost my sense of stability, I lost my possessions, and no one has done anything to, it was just like, ‘Okay, it’s over, bye.’”
The damaged building’s residents said they feel “cut loose” by the complex’s management after the fire, except for an offer to explore leases at one of the company’s other properties.
They said they were ordered to sign two release forms before they could enter and try and salvage belongings and told they could do so only two times.
Some told News4 they found property missing.
They said they felt overwhelmed and abandoned with only each other to lean on.
“We’ve heard some stories of folks where their insurance claims are not being processed, they’re not being allowed to get their items, items are missing,” said Prince George’s County Council Member Shayla Adams-Stafford, who represents the area
Wednesday night, a small army of county and state officials arrived, alerted to the situation by a resident. They brought food and supplies donated by Prince George’s County businesses and they offered help.
Adams-Stafford commended the efforts of the Red Cross to help in the immediate aftermath. She said ongoing support is now needed.
“Everyone has been assuming that folks were getting support from their insurance companies and that the rental company was operating in a way that was treating folks with dignity and respect and helping them get rehoused,” Adams-Stafford said.
The initial public report on the fire notes lighting as a possible cause, though no official cause has been determined, and that “the building’s fire detector failed to operate.”
A tenant took a video the next day, when, they said, the building’s fire alarm appeared to be activating for no reason.
Assistant Fire Chief Carroll Spriggs told those assembled the investigation continues and offered his agency’s assistance.
“We will work with your insurance companies,” he said. “All they have to do is contact us. They normally hire private investigators to come out and speak with us and invite us to come to the scene.”
Also present were lawyers who offered to take on building residents as clients.
News4 has contacted the property management company and we are awaiting a response.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
