Residents try to regroup after devastating Richmond Hill fire
RICHMOND HILL, Queens (WABC) -- A Queens community devastated by a vicious fire gathered to look for answers.
A row of businesses was destroyed over the weekend in the Richmond Hill section.
Five people were hurt, and an FDNY firefighter with seconds before he'd be burned, used a life-saving rope to rappel down the building.
It was a small crowd, but all bound together in the devastating loss they suffered Saturday night.
Michelle is 19 years old.
"I lost everything from clothes, to my computer, books, everything, I walked out with flip flops," Michelle said.
Fire devoured the buildings on Liberty Avenue Saturday night, businesses and homes were swept away by a molten river of flame.
Heroes emerged in the madness. Savirtri went upstairs to get her elderly neighbor.
"It was scary because at that time we had no electric, it was dark in the corridor and I tell her, I said, 'As much as I'm feeling like I'm going to pass out here, we have to make it out,'" said Savirtri Gebodh, a resident.
But left behind was rubble, and the people trying to recover.
"The whole apartment is gone, everything was inside, all of our property, all our belongings," said Mohammad Sikh, a resident.
So Wednesday night, folks from city agencies, including the FDNY and the 106 precinct came together to talk about what help is available, as residents try and recover. It's not easy.
"I'm living in the city with a relative, and I'm devastated," Michelle said.
