From Stacy

Monday morning at around 2 a.m. there was a fire in the elevator shaft of my apartment complex. It was scary, running from the smoke, but we made it out unharmed. They started letting people back into the building around 4 a.m., but it was far too smokey on our floor. Lewis and I went to stay at my parents house till morning.

First, lets just say it could have been a lot worse. With smoke alarms and the fire department the fire was localized to only the common areas on the first and second floors. Their is severe smoke damage in the common areas to floors five and six. I live on floor five.

Our apartment is right next to the elevator shaft, and has a lot of smoke damage. Thankfully, I have renters insurance and they will help cover the cost of clean-up and replacement of whatever we may need.

It's been upsetting, seeing black soot on everything I own, but as we stared up at our apartment building at 3 in the morning I was afraid everything I owned would be burned. I thought the fire was literally right outside our door, not outside our door five stories down. So we were blessed. I'm sure there are others that weren't so lucky.

No word yet as to what caused the fire. Rumor mill started that the elevator hadn't been inspected since 2003. An investigator at the scene told us that it was arson; someone lit a fire inside the elevator. I'll wait for confirmation (which will never come) before passing any judgement. Right now, I'm grateful no one was hurt and that my parents were here to give us a safe place to stay.

Tip to Renters: Pay the 200$ a year or whatever it is (its small) and get a small renters insurance policy. At least one that will cover at least carpet and wall clean-up and getting rid of the smell.

Thanks to Mom and Carolyn for sending your thoughts, prayers and advice. They are very helpful in this stressful (smokey) time!

Love and thanks ~ Stacy