LAUREL, Del.-Â Rigbie Apartments was a historic building in Laurel most known for its time as a hotel.
At 6:36pm Thursday night, Laurel Fire Department as well as Blades Volunteer Fire Company and Sussex County EMS were dispatched to the scene. This fire has left dozens of people without a home but the community is responding quickly to help them.
Laurel Fire Department Assistant Chief Mike Lowe says when crews arrived on scene fire could be seen from the side of the apartments. It's balloon construction caused the fire to spread quickly up the building.
"The fire got inside the walls," Lowe said. "It became difficult to contain. Eventually made it to the attic and when it did, that was pretty much it."
Fifty people were affected with 28 of them being children. 35 people were evacuated from the building. Fortunately, no one including first responders was hurt.
Just down the street from the scene of the fire, the Good Ole Boy Foundation as well as other companies in Laurel have been teaming up to collect donations for these families.
Foundation member Rusty Dukes says they have been taking money donated and using it for shelter for the people displaced.
"We've got them in two motels here in Seaford and a rotary house as well," Dukes said. "So the families are taken care of for now. The clothing donations that are pouring in have been incredible."
A & K Enterprises, a bait and tackle shop, is a drop-off location for donations. Owner Kim Littleton recalls driving up to the scene from dinner Thursday night.
"We came back up through Delmar and came back up the old road, I'll say the Delmar Bi State Boulevard is the correct road," Littleton said. "And they saw the cloud and thought maybe saw smoke, a big cloud until you saw all of the flashing lights and then you knew you were in trouble."
The bait and tackle will continue to take cash, checks, and will accept anything to help these families through this tough time.
According to the American Red Cross, most families that were displaced were able to get two night of shelter. They will be assisting with additional nights after that. The Delaware State Fire Marshal is still investigating the cause of this fire.
