Before she saw the flames, before the smoke permeated through the windows and became embedded in her belongings, before her walls were ruined with water damage, Cindy Overstreet heard the voices of the neighborhood children:
Fire! Fire! Fire!
The noise interrupted the quiet weekend afternoon Overstreet was having with her family Saturday, May 6. She was at home with her boyfriend, Mike Persails, and her children when she heard the yelling.
She ran outside of her second-floor Plant City apartment. Her next-door neighbor’s balcony had gone up in flames.
“People were trying to put the porch out,” Overstreet said. “But it was huge. We grabbed our dogs and our kids and got out.”
As neighbors and fellow Madison Park residents worked on the flames, Overstreet took her children and ran to the complex’s nearby leasing office. Standing next to the vending machines, the family watched as the fire filtered from their neighbor’s porch and to the attic.
Plant City Fire Rescue received the call at 3:56 p.m., according to Deputy Chief David Burnett. Lakeland Fire Department, Polk County Fire Rescue and Hillsborough County Fire Rescue responded as mutual aid units.
“We kept thinking, ‘It’s going to go out, they’re going to put it out,” Overstreet said. “But then it got to the roof.”
“It took about four hours to fully take care of it,” Burnett said. “The complex has a fire sprinkler system, but the fire started on the porch and spread to the attic. The porch and the attic do not have the system.”
By the time the fire was extinguished, the majority of one apartment roof had been burned away.
Next door, at Overstreet’s apartment, the ceiling of her son’s bedroom had caved in. Burned and wet ceiling pieces covered her couch, her daughter’s bedspread, the fruit bowl on the dining room table.
By the end of the day Saturday, 10 apartments had either fire or water damage. Representatives at Madison Park Road said that 30 people had been displaced, including 15 children.
While some residents, like Overstreet, are staying with nearby family members, the Red Cross was called to provide hotel lodging for the affected families. Four of the units are uninhabitable and will need to be fully rebuilt, while the other six units need remodeling.
The six units that need to be remodeled will be ready for residents within 30 to 60 days, according to the apartment complex.
“We’re working to get them housing here for the time being,” Bethany Glass, a leasing agent for Madison Apartment Group, said. “We should have enough availability. We’re working to make sure those temporary apartments will be move-in ready for those who can’t move back in.”
The complex’s leasing office has become a makeshift donation drop-off for victims of the fire. Apartment neighbors and Plant City residents have dropped off dishes, blankets and clothes.
Because the complex cannot accept monetary donations, residents are encouraged to either drop off items, or to provide financial assistance to the victims through a business or fundraising effort.
“Love and prayers go out to all the fire victims and families here at Madison,” a sign on the front of the leasing office reads. “All donations are welcome and appreciated.”
For those who want to assist displaced families get back on their feet, Glass encouraged the drop-off of donation items.
“They need things you might not think about immediately,” she said. “They need dishes, laundry detergent for clothes that might have smoke damage. They need fabric softener, dryer sheets, bottled water. We are accepting any hygiene products and towels and body washes. They’ll also need mattresses.”
Burnett said that the cause of the fire was due to the “careless discard of smoking material.”
“A cushioned chair on the porch was the ignition source,” Burnett said. “When the fire spread to the attic, it was out of the occupied space that has fire sprinklers.”
Located on the second floor, the apartment where the fire began collapsed on the apartment below it. By Monday, May 8, the apartment had been boarded up and locked, preventing entry.
“The Red Cross stepped in to help with housing,” Burnett said. “Management at Madison also stepped up. They got everyone mobilized.”
After the fire, Overstreet and Persails walked through their smoke-damaged apartment with friends, trying to salvage clothes and belongings. When Overstreet moved in, she had three U-hauls filled with furniture and electronics.
On Monday, her belongings filled only the bed of a pick-up truck.
Tears sprung to her eyes at the sight of her daughter Sophia’s hope chest, which the family was able to save.
“A dear friend of mine has had that since she was 5 years old,” Overstreet said. “She gave it to me when my daughter was born, and we restored it. It means something to me.”
Following Saturday, the Plant City community has rallied around fire victims. As word of the blaze spread through Facebook and other social media platforms, businesses and individuals offered a helping hand.
Sara Johns, a co-owner of The Tire Shop of Plant City on Wheeler Street, has organized a car wash fundraiser for victims of the fire to be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 13.
“It’s just a sad ordeal,” Johns said. “Two of the children who lost everything go to school with my kids.”
Overstreet said that she and fellow families have been shown an outpouring of love and kindness from friends and strangers.
“People have helped in all kinds of ways,” she said.
Donations for the families affected by the fire can be dropped off at the Madison Park Road Leasing Office, 2120 Village Park Road.
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.