Homeless shelter fire brings plea for aid

Aug. 26--DURHAM -- Valeria Barnes made it clear she's grateful that a Friday fire at the homeless shelter where she and her daughter are staying spared everyone's life.

"I thought: 'Oh my God, we all could have died'!" she said. "For real, we could have."

A kitchen grease fire caused extensive water damage to Families Moving Forward, a nonprofit shelter at 300 N. Queen St. downtown.

The family shelter was evacuated as firefighters, who arrived shortly after 8 a.m., quickly brought flames under control. Two families had to be moved to other rooms at the shelter due to water damage, and the loss of electricity spoiled food in several refrigerators.

"Our ongoing needs are for the community to donate grocery store gift cards for at least 12 of the families whose refrigerators lost power," the shelter's development director, Shana Carignan, said.

Carignan said the fire activated the building's sprinklers, damaging guests rooms, a kitchen, and a multi-purpose room.

Ryan Fehrman, the shelter's executive director, was waiting Friday for word from the insurance company about the policy's deductible and how much damage it will cover.

In the meantime, he hopes the community will step forward and help the shelter, which currently houses 19 families.

"The shelter can always use cash donations," he said. Also needed are prepared meals that can be dropped off at the site.

Fehrman said the shelter completed a successful campaign in 2015 to renovate the first-floor space, but much of that was damaged by water. He hopes insurance will cover it, but said donations will help pay for other losses.

Meanwhile, children played on computers Friday afternoon, supervised by staff who tried to help them forget the day's trauma.

"The staff made it comfortable for the kids to play and take their minds off stuff," Barnes said. "They've been great."

Barnes said she and her 6-year-old daughter were shaken by the experience, but are feeling better now. Their room was not damaged, but two adults and their two children nearby weren't so lucky.

"It was scary," Barnes said. "But I thank God we're here. I thank God nobody got hurt."

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