Community rallies together for families impacted by Oakland County explosion
ORION TOWNSHIP, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - Residents displaced by the explosion at the Keatington New Town Association condominium complex are looking for help, and their community is answering the call.
Many of the displaced residents say they've made arrangements to stay with family and friends until they can find a new place to live, but shelter is just the start of rebuilding their lives after losing everything.
"One day, you have everything, and the next day, you have absolutely nothing and no place to go. It's tough," said Jim Owen, who donated to residents.
Owen made the half-hour trip from Utica after learning about the explosion that took out 18 condo units and left a dozen more in question. He also lost everything nearly 60 years ago.
"(The year) 1965. It was the day after Thanksgiving. I lived down in Muncie, Indiana, and we were gone and our apartment got wiped out by a tornado. Very difficult to get back from, and we had the turkey and said, 'Hey, we could give it locally, but these people need it,'" he said.
Owen learned about the explosion from watching the news, but another person who dropped off clothes donations to the Woodland Bible Church has a much closer connection.
"I'm actually only 300 feet away from the explosion, and I saw all of my neighbors crying because they lost all their belonging. It really just broke my heart," said Marco Pietrantonio, a resident at the Keatington New Town Association.
Pietrantonio is donating clothing to his neighbors after seeing the destruction first hand.
Sisters Helena and Chloe Bennett were even closer. They say they're lucky to be alive after escaping the building where the blast went off.
"When we came out, our place wasn't on fire yet, so there was no smoke inside the place, at least that we could remember. We came out, and within four minutes, our entire place was engulfed in flames," said the sisters.
The Bennet sisters are holding out hope that they can find the cat that hasn't been seen since the explosion. They say they can feel the support from this community as they try to rebuild their lives. SOC.