Residents displaced by Baldwin apartment fire get help; hope to return

When Susana Canela rushed out of her burning Baldwin apartment last Thursday evening, she left with nothing.

Now a week later, what remains of her belongings, like those of dozens of other residents of the three-story apartment complex on Merrick Road, are still in the building. And like everyone forced out by the fire, Canela said she has no idea when she will be allowed back in.

Canela, 34, and her three children — ages 16, 6 and 5 months — have stayed with friends and family and in a hotel for the past week.

"That’s how I’ve been surviving," she told Newsday.

According to a spokesperson for the American Red Cross, the organization has registered 81 people — including 24 children — for emergency and financial assistance who were displaced by the blaze. 

On Thursday, a week after the fire, the basement of St. Christopher’s Church, across the street from the complex, served as a distribution center for clothes, shoes, food, medicine and more. Victims of the fire gathered in the basement and were met with the warm smiles of volunteers and rows upon rows of donated items.

"It breaks my heart every time I see any tragedy, but we’re here and this is what we do," said Suzzanne Piccolo, the global membership chair of Lions Club International, in an interview with Newsday at the church.

Nassau County firefighters responded to a 911 call at 11:25 a.m. last Thursday reporting smoke in the building. The fire moved quickly across the roof and injured three firefighters, Nassau Chief Fire Marshal Michael F. Uttaro said in a news release at the time.

Uttaro said the fire was caused by an "accidental electrical malfunction."

Meanwhile, the American Red Cross has been helping Canela and others residents by "connecting them with nonprofits and/or government partners to assist with longer-term recovery need," said Frederic Klein, regional communications manager for the Greater New York Region, in a statement.

Canela said the fire started in the unit next door.

Smoke from the neighbor's electric panel as well as flames eventually made it to her unit, Canela said.

"The kitchen looks like it collapsed," she said. "The bathroom is destroyed."

It remained unclear Thursday when Canela and the other displaced residents will be allowed back in to get items not destroyed by the fire.

"Regarding the occupants being allowed to retrieve their belongings the Nassau County Fire Marshal Office does not have any hold on the building,"

Assistant Chief Fire Marshal James F. Hickman said in a statement. "Any restrictions would be either the Town of Hempstead and/or the building owner."

Michael McKeon, 60, a resident of a unit on the third floor, came to the church basement to pick up donated good. McKeon described a harrowing scene last Thursday outside the burned complex

"There were kids getting off the school buses where their moms are crying to tell them ,‘We don’t live here anymore,'" he said.

Boards of plywood covered the building’s windows Thursday evening, with signs that read "UNSAFE STRUCTURE DO NOT ENTER."

St. Christopher’s Church will be open again from 3 to 8 p.m. on Monday for goods distribution.