Burned-out families start over

Eric Leake

Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2004 | 8:59 a.m.

As demolition crews tore down charred roof beams and tiles, residents of the Courtyard Village Apartments tried to begin rebuilding their lives Tuesday.

After an early morning fire Tuesday destroyed three buildings, many of those evacuated from the complex on Dumont Boulevard near the Boulevard mall were allowed to return later in the morning.

Others had longer waits for debris to be cleared or to move into vacant apartments.

Areas of the complex still smelled of charred wood, and the swimming pool was black with ash as residents waited through the afternoon to return home.

Courtyard Village Apartment management said all utilities had been restored and that there were vacant apartments to accommodate families whose apartments were destroyed.

Renita Calvin, 33, waited at the neighboring Boys and Girls Club to be one of a dozen families relocated into a vacant apartment.

"My apartment is gone," she said. "I went around the back and the back's just down, all caved, the windows busted ... Thank God they're relocating me whenever they get everything together because I can't do anything."

Calvin said she was awakened by a "boom, boom" and thought somebody was trying to break into her home. Her boyfriend saw the fire when he took a look outside. They ran upstairs, grabbed her six children and left with only the clothes they were wearing.

No residents were injured in the fire, which the Clark County Fire Department estimated resulted in $4 million to $6 million in damage.

Calvin said she had complained about people living in an apartment by candlelight, coming in and out at all hours and behaving strangely.

"I had been complaining on them and look what happened," she said, adding that if she could, she would move to a different complex "because I have kids and I don't want them being around that drug area and stuff."

The American Red Cross, the Boys and Girls Club and other groups provided food, vouchers to stores, relief and shelter for displaced residents.

Carol Moss-Alford, unit director of the Boys and Girls Club, said the fire was another event for children who have already been through a lot. She said the aid was meaningful, "especially in this neighborhood because people sometimes think that nobody cares."