Resident of Stoney Creek Apts recaps Saturday's fire

Flames overtook part of the Stoney Creek Apartments on Rapid City's south side this past weekend.
The Red Cross stepped in on Saturday to help victims of the fire who evacuated 17 different apartment units, and the agency has not stopped offering its assistance.

Some victims of the devastating fire have even been receiving help from more than just the Red Cross.
One resident of the apartments had her friend create a go-fund-me account to help her out.
Black Hills FOX reporter Heather Janssen had the chance to speak with that resident on how this tragic event is shaping her life.

Brittany McGrady says, "I have things in there that I can't replace. You know like recipe books from grandparents that are already dead. My grandma made jewelry and I have things that she's made specifically for me. My son, when he was born, they put his footprints on a bib. That's all in there. All that stuff is in there."

For Brittany McGrady, her son, and her sister ... June 20th is a day that they won't ever forget.

McGrady says, "My sister was coming home from work and she drove by the apartment building and there was flames. She called me and was like, 'You need to come now. Our apartment is on fire.' It was just burning. Everything was just burning."

It's an event she describes as something that you won't think will ever happen to you, and when it does ... what do you do?
That's when Brittany's friend, Cassie Callahan, decided to create a Go Fund Me page to help raise some money for her cause.

Callahan says, "I just want to see her get back into her own place. I just want to see her quickly get back into an apartment there and have a place to live. I couldn't imagine living with no bed or clothes or anything."
McGrady is happy, however, that when it comes down to it...nobody in her family was injured. In fact, everyone, including her dog, was out of the apartment when the blaze started ... likely the result of a lightning strike.
McGrady says, "I'm a huge pet lover. My son...my family they mean everything to me. If I would have lost one of them, I don't know what I would do."
But McGrady is only one of many affected who didn't have renter's insurance and now has to figure out what's next.
"Where are you going from here...?"
She says, "I don't know. I can't really do much until I know what the damage is. I'm just going to have to like...rebuild everything. Just start over."

Early Monday evening, Brittany said she was finally let into the building after two days of wondering and found that her important memorabilia seemed salvageable.
Hopefully the same can be said for the other tenants.

Donations can be made to Brittany's Go Fund Me page linked within this page or to the Red Cross where they will be dispersed among different disasters in the Black Hills area.