Fire displaces Fairfield families

One apartment was destroyed and seven more in the same building have smoke and/or water damage at North Bay Apartments, 210 E. Pierce Ave. in Fairfield.

Stephanie Goodwin, the resident in Apt. 9, was home with her two youngest of three children.

?I was making valentines for my son?s class yesterday and saw sparks coming out of the baseboard heater and the sparks caught my bed on fire,? Goodwin said this morning. ?I tried to put it out myself and couldn?t. My main concern was for my kids.?

Apartment manager Daniel Dieter called 911, and Goodwin and her two children got out safely, and no one in the other apartments was injured. Her oldest son was at school.

Fairfield Fire Department received the call at 11:02 a.m. Tuesday and remained on the scene until 2:55 p.m.

Fire chief Scott Vaughan said today the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Dieter said the insurance investigator was at the apartments this morning and he was waiting for the insurance adjuster to arrive.

?Residents were allowed to collect a few things, but they can?t return to the apartments because there?s no power,? said Dieter. ?Stephanie lost everything.?

Goodwin spent Tuesday night with a friend and the Southern Prairie Chapter of American Red Cross is providing hotel accommodations for her family the next few nights.

?Someone gave us two beds for my boys yesterday,? she said. ?I still need a toddler bed for my daughter.?

She also doesn?t have a bed for herself. She isn?t sure where she?ll move yet, but is looking for another apartment.

?The Red Cross provided money to buy coats and shoes for everyone,? said Goodwin. ?And money for food.?

Her neighbor Kayla Hoffman and friend Robbyne Furney-Sorbo have volunteered to accept donations of furniture, clothing and other items for Goodwin.

Items can be taken to Hoffman at 206 E. Pierce Ave., Apt. 20, or to Furney-Sorbo at 606 W. Monroe Ave., Apt. 21; phone 919-6014.

Goodwin?s children?s clothing sizes are boys 5T and 3T, and girls 18-24 months. Size 3 diapers and size 4-5 Pull-Ups are needed.