"Nowhere to go": Dozens of Randolph fire victims could be displaced for six months
RANDOLPH - A Randolph condo fire on Nelson Drive displaced roughly 40 residents, leaving many worried about where they'll stay through the fall.
"Devastation. Totally…nowhere to go. No one to help us," said a longtime resident.
Mr. Sanders has called the condo complex home for nearly 20 years but was forced out by a fire last Friday.
"It was a fire that started in the kitchen,of a unit on the third floor," said Randolph fire chief Ron Cassford, according to their preliminary investigation.
"I went downstairs and grabbed a fire extinguisher and went up the back," described Sanders. "And all I see is black smoke and orange flames and I said 'No, I'm not going in there.'"
It didn't take crews long to contain the fire, but the damage was done.
"It's horrendous in there," said Sanders.
And you can smell it – a charred third-floor kitchen, widespread smoke and water damage across 12 units, displacing roughly 40 people. The Red Cross helped with hotel rooms for a few days and some residents have homeowners' insurance, but vouchers are quickly running out. Residents, like Sanders, were told they have a week to pack up and leave.
"Where am I supposed to stay? They're talking about us being out for six months or more," he told WBZ-TV. "I have nowhere to go. And you try to get public housing, but the thing is, they put you on a waiting list."
The retiree said he can't sleep worrying about housing through the fall with the little clothes he has that don't reek of smoke. He doesn't know where to run with no idea how to create a GoFundMe page. But he's grateful the shell of his condo building is still intact.
"The only thing that saved this building is an old building with brick and concrete floors," he said. "That's the only thing that saved this building."