Organizations assist those displaced by fire

CLOVIS — Local community organizations were still working Tuesday to provide assistance to the nearly 50 residents displaced by Monday’s fire at the Clovis Apartments.

United Way of Eastern New Mexico Executive Director Erinn Burch said on Tuesday that 46 people from 12 families were still displaced by the fire.

Burch said 14 of those people found a place to stay with family or friends on Monday night, with the remaining 32 staying at a local hotel, paid for by the Clovis Apartments’ management company Monarch Properties.

Clovis/Curry County Emergency Management Director Dan Heerding said Monarch also paid for the Tuesday night hotel stays and additional funding would be determined after the needs of the displaced residents are assessed.

Heerding and Burch both said currently the hope is that eight of the 12 families would be able to return to their apartment soon, possibly as early as today, while the other four apartments, including the apartment where the fire originated, will require more work.

“The property here is moving forward with a small army of contractors to try to get every resident back in their apartment as quickly as possible,” Heerding said.

Burch said nobody would go without a place to stay, it would just depend on the residents’ needs and the money available. Heerding said he has been working with the Red Cross and will have plans ready to put in place once more is known about the needs of the displaced residents.

Burch said anyone looking to provide a monetary donation to those affected can do so by visiting the website http://www.mkt.com/uwenm and anyone looking to donate household items like clothes or furniture should still do so as normal at The Lighthouse Mission or Matt 25, and that those organizations will provide the items to the displaced residents when the need presents itself.

Both Burch and Matt 25 Executive Director Steve Reshetar said the two organizations have learned more about working together since the last fire at the apartment complex in 2012 and have been able to provide more coordinated services to those affected.

“That’s the good thing about this town is that there’s such a spirit of working together just to help people,” Reshetar said.

The spirit of working together extends beyond the city limits too, as Reshetar said an airman from Cannon Air Force Base dropped off a bag at Matt 25 filled with all sorts of toiletry items, first aid equipment and coloring books.