Displaced residents return home after downtown Raleigh fire

RALEIGH, North Carolina (WTVD) -- Two weeks ago, a raging fire destroyed an apartment complex under construction in downtown Raleigh. Friday, residents of a complex next door were finally able to move back home.

There is still plenty of repair work going on at the Link Apartments in the Glenwood South area. Fortunately, some of the 57 apartments damaged were unoccupied. Some unoccupied apartments that weren't damaged will be used to house residents who lost their units to the fire.

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Signs welcomed Link residents back home Friday. All of them were also given Easter baskets, gift cards, and a 25 percent break on rent for the next two months.

Nearly 200 Link residents were displaced by the massive blaze at the construction site. It was Raleigh's biggest fire in almost 100 years.

READ MORE ABOUT THE DOWNTOWN RALEIGH FIRE HERE

For many Link residents, the return home was emotional.

"It's been a roller coaster of events," said resident Tiffany Robinson. "I feel like pretty much everything that could have gone wrong in the last two weeks has, but I'm also just really fortunate and I feel really blessed because I walk in and I get an Easter basket full of goodies and gift cards and, 'Hey, we're giving you a discount' for a couple of months. So it's mixed emotions, bittersweet."

Robinson was luckier than others; her apartment had no serious damage and all she lost was food in the refrigerator. Some residents at the Link, though, have lost their homes long-term.

There are not enough undamaged and unoccupied apartments to house everyone whose units were destroyed.