After a fire on the last day of 2024 left multiple people at a Little Rock apartment complex without a place to stay, the Red Cross has stepped in to help.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Tenants who live at the Midtown Park Apartments in Little Rock are still in shock after a fire broke out in their building on New Year’s Eve.
Now, 2025 has arrived and they’ve been left wondering if they’ll still have a place to call home for the new year.
“We heard people screaming and yelling and banging, you know, and so then we went out to look and see what it was. And then we started tripping and grabbing what we could and the kids and everything and running out,” said Clouide Black, a resident in the building. “We went into the fifth floor, and we got into an apartment and pushed the windows out.”
She described that towards the back part of the apartment complex, people had tied blankets together and were trying to climb out the window and jump out— which left many residents shocked and traumatized.
Michael Brooks is a resident who lives on the seventh floor, and he described how he and his two dogs had to find a way to the bottom while smoke was spreading amongst the complex.
“Not until we got to, like the third floor, and I started coughing. I knew my little guys were suffering. I took the hallway over to the other side, and I opened that door, and it was full of smoke too. So I closed the door and just sat down and waited for the fire department,” Brooks explained.
Little Rock Fire Captain Jacob Lear-Sadowsky said the fire started just after 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon and luckily crews were able to contain the fire to an apartment on the second floor.
“When our crews got onto the second floor, they found zero visibility conditions with high heat enough to melt the plastic exit signs. So as you can imagine, as that concrete heated up, it kind of acted like an oven,” Captain Lear-Sadowsky described.
Inside the apartment complex, Captain Lear-Sadowsky said 127 out of the 131 total apartments were occupied. 11 people were taken to the hospital— and four were deemed as being in critical condition at the time of transport.
As crews worked to determine the fire’s cause and the damage’s extent, tenants were moved to Calvary Baptist Church where the American Red Cross set up a shelter for those displaced due to the fire.
“We’re making sure they have a warm place and a safe place to stay at night, but we also provide three meals a day. So they’re getting breakfast, lunch, and dinner plus shelter,” said Michael Spencer, a Red Cross manager.
Spencer and his American Red Cross team quickly jumped into action to help those in need. Now, they have been actively working with them to make sure the new year is a fresh start.
“We’re working with them to begin their next steps, to plan their recovery, but the main thing we’re doing is just giving them a safe place to stay and being that listening ear and that shoulder just to lean on, and, you know, just to provide that care and comfort,” he added.
As of Wednesday morning, power and gas were still shut off at the Midtown Park Apartments. Officials are still working to figure out when, or if, people can return to their home sometime soon.
For anyone looking for ways to help, please call 1-800-REDCROSS or click here.
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