MUHLENBERG TOWNSHIP, Pa. – The fire is out at Oak Forest Apartments in Muhlenberg Township — but the heat and humidity remain.
“This is bad man,” Witly Jacques of Reading said. “ The whole building is burnt down. It’s just horrible.”
Neighbors, friends and family of the dozens forced from their homes — as well as restoration crews are on site to help.
“I saw the firefighters coming,” said Ruth Morban of Reading. “It does look pretty bad.”
“It’s not good,” said Jacques. “I feel for them and stuff like that cuz they have they have their personal things, papers, passports. That’s the issue.”
The Red Cross says it’s helping a number of families, and a local synagogue offered up shelter and organizing space.
“You just hate to see this because you know what it means for the people that yesterday they had a place to live they were comfortable they were with their family — and today they’re gone,” said Peter Brown with the American Red Cross.
The uncomfortable heat doesn’t make it any easier for families and restoration crews as they work to recover following the fire.
“We see that in the summer when we get into this kind of weather we see that in the winter we’ve had multiple fires in Berks in the winter when it’s really cold,” Brown said.
With many seeing the fire from far away as well as on social media — it’s spurring some to find a way to help.
“It’s just sad it’s just sad because it’s so near by me and this could happen anywhere and it’s so unexpected,” said Morban.