By CYNTHIA VEGA / WFAA ABC 8
MESQUITE, Texas — An evacuee from Hurricane Katrina is facing disaster again—this time in Mesquite.
He is one of 40 victims of a fire early Friday at the Elmwood Gardens Apartments in Mesquite.
Investigators said the first alarm went out about 1:30 a.m. at the two-story brick building in the 4000 block of Samuell Blvd.
Kim and Eric Wilson said they were awakened by the smell of smoke. They stepped outside to see a big ball of fire coming from a second floor apartment.
"We lost everything; we don't have anything," Kim Wilson said through tears. "Hindsight is 20/20. If we had renters' insurance, we wouldn't be so lost right now."
The Wilsons were able to escape with their children. They also helped an 80-year-old downstairs neighbor evacuate safely.
No one was hurt.
American Red Cross spokeswoman Elizabeth Lancaster said 16 apartments were destroyed or damaged in the fire. One of the displaced occupants was a Louisiana resident who was made homeless by Hurricane Katrina.
Red Cross volunteers provided fire victims with clothes, food and hotel rooms.
"I just thank God for letting me and my wife and my family and everybody in the unit get out safely," Eric Wilson said.
The apartment manager was working to make furnished units available to the families affected by the fire, but Lancaster said rental housing is at a premium due to the influx of Katrina evacuees in North Texas.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
WFAA ABC 8
Sixteen apartments were damaged or destroyed in the fire.