16 homeless after Ware apartment fire

WARE, Mass. (WWLP) - A fire destroyed the Mirabile Apartment Complex at 50 Chestnut Street in Ware Tuesday morning. Firefighters got there just before 10 A.M., but within an hour, the fire had engulfed the building.

Everyone inside the building at the time of the fire got out safely, but a total of 16 people are now homeless. Steven Robert, one of the residents who lived at the Mirabile Apartments, told 22News: "It's devastating. Everything I own is in there. I don't have insurance. A lot of the people who live here don't have insurance. Most of them are just scraping by, so it's not like they can afford to lose everything they have."

Many people from across the community came out to see the fire and to offer support to those who were displaced. "We're taught how to help people. I'm sure everybody will be pulling for them, trying to help them get back on their feet," Lou Dominie Jr. of Ware said.

The Central Massachusetts and Pioneer Valley chapters of the American Red Cross have both reached out to the 16 victims of this fire to provide them with clothing, food, and shelter. The Red Cross also helped firefighters who were fighting the fire for most of Tuesday by giving them food and water.