Mansion Flats Residents Look To Get Back On Their Feet After Fire
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – A woman who lost everything when a fire swept through her Mansion Flats residence is getting back on her feet with a little help from her friends.
Kiarra Gipson was asleep at 6:15 a.m. April 25 when her F Street 4-plex went up in flames. She barely made it out of her apartment alive.
"My whole living room was in flames; there was no going back after that," Gipson said.
Gipson raced out and immediately rushed to her neighbors.
"I banged on his door, he wasn't answering, so we ran upstairs got the old lady … We ran downstairs [and] that's when we saw the house next to us on fire," Gipson said.
The fire had spread to her apartment. Both residences were historic Victorian homes in the Mansion Flats area of downtown Sacramento.
It took fire crews two and a half hours to put out the flames.
"You see those people on TV who run back inside for their cat or their belongings and that was me, you know," Gipson said.
All she could grab was a couple laundry baskets, a painting, a pair of shoes and her pajamas.
Now, her coworkers are helping with a garage sale to help Gipson start over.
"You realize who cares, all these people who I don't know dropped stuff all week. It's shocking," Gipson said.
Donations for the garage sale piled up, with all the proceeds from the sale helping Gipson get her life back.
She has one thing at the top of her wish list.
"Buying a bed … that's the first thing to do is buy a bed," Gipson said.
It's been an emotional time for Gipson, who says the hardest part was losing sentimental things that can't be replaced.
"It's a humbling experience. You learn what really matters, not the materialistic things."
