‘Everything they had is gone.’ Large fire destroys Maplewood home

A morning fire tore apart a house along Burnett Avenue in Maplewood on Thursday, displacing eight family members.

April Smith lives in the two-story house with her five children and extended family. She says the flames started in a bedroom in the front of the home.

She says there were four people inside at the time who all got out safely.

“I just have absolutely no idea what we’re gonna do because that was our whole life,” Smith says.

The fire started around 11 a.m. in Smith’s mother’s room. The mother was not home at the time.

“I think it was something electrical because she wasn’t even in there,” says Smith. “It just happened so quickly. We were fine and we saw smoke then coming out of her room." Smith adds, “Thank God I have all of my family members and everybody is alive.”

Smith says she feels especially bad for her children whose belongings were destroyed.

“That was my daughter’s room...All of her things are gone. She played guitar, so I’m sure that’s gone. Everything they had is gone," she says.

The family is getting help with shelter from the American Red Cross.