Morrisville community thanks first responders as residents recover from apartment fire

MORRISVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- The community is continuing to rally behind those affected by a fast-moving fire at a Morrisville apartment complex, leaving dozens of families displaced.

Kalpa Saisankar's dance studio is right behind the Camden Westwood Apartments. She still remembers getting the call.

"There's a lot of smoke; something is happening, you need to come," she recalled.

She said one of her students lives there and had to escape.

"Next thing she knew, she grabbed her 6-year-old, and she ran out of the house. They lost everything," she said.

She's glad everyone was OK, but now many are starting over.

"The 6-year-old showed me a small bunny in her hand. She said I got this from my hand, but all my other toys are gone. You look at it from a 6-year old standpoint, her whole world is shattered, it was very sad," she said.

But out of that loss, the community is stepping up.

"I gave them all a big hug. I told them we are all here, just tell us what we need to do.

The Sri Venkateswara Temple and other local groups, including SEWA, have been helping those displaced find housing and food, also thanking the firefighters who quickly got the fire under control, and making sure no lives were lost.

"When there's a real problem, and firefighters step up, that's when they really get the extra attention, and they're 24 hours a day, seven days, 365 days a year," said Morrisville Mayor TJ Cawley.

"We can't thank them enough, the fire officials, the Camden officials, they were there on the spot," says Rahul Anil with the SV Temple.

The fire, which began on a balcony, was among the worst the Red Cross has seen in our area in decades.

But they say the response to help those who lost everything was a shining example.

"This fire set a standard, set a bar, and what happened this fire, if we could replicate it over and over again, we'd be much better off in the Triangle area," says Donnell Nichols, the Fire Department liaison with the American Red Cross.

And while it's a long road ahead, it's a reminder they're not alone.

"Psychologically, it's going to be a deep wound, it's going to take forever, but at least physically we can help them," said Saisankar.