On Aug. 19, approximately 50 firefighters from five departments battled the blaze, which sent intense flames shooting into the sky.
Lesley Thomas, who lived in an apartment damaged in the fire, had tears running down her face as she sat on a blanket holding her cat and talking about her experience shortly after the fire.
"I went into the back room and I smelled smoke really strong," Thomas said. "I said John, there's a fire, we've got to get out."
The American Red Cross dispatched its disaster action team and sheltering team to the scene, according to Maria Carroll, regional disaster support recovery specialist for the Dayton Area Red Cross.
Red Cross officials were assisting at least 15 families and were providing living arrangements until repairs or alternative housing could be arranged, Carroll said. Most families stayed with friends or family, but some were offered hotel rooms, according to Carroll.
The same apartment complex had 24 units destroyed or damaged by fire in February 2007, when firefighters said two fires in an electrical room led to the damage. The cause in the 2007 fires was listed by the fire department as "undetermined".
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