Judi Empey is 66 years old and just lost everything in an apartment fire.

On Sunday, May 18th at 8:07 a.m., I got a text message from my mother:

"Call me my apartment caught fire, from the lady next door!" with a picture of the burned and blackened outside of building 5, at Trackside Homes in Johnstown New York.

When I called her she answered crying, clearly in shock, and briefly told me what happened.

At first I had no idea how to respond, telling her to let me know. Shortly after I called her back to tell her I was on my way.

When I got to Trackside Homes, the fire department was still there packing up. It was raining and people were scattered about still trying to make sense of what had happened. The Red Cross was there trying to get all the people affected registered as victims of a disaster. My mother was in one of the gathering spots in pajamas, a donated sweatshirt and wet crocs. Apparently the fire department took her back inside to grab what she could once the fire was put out. She was a mess. I just wanted to get her out of there as fast as possible.

The woman next door had probably left a lit cigarette on her balcony before leaving, which then started a fire. The fire spread from her balcony, to my mother's next door, then finally spreading to the inside of the building causing a delay in the smoke alarms. My mom said she was making a cup of coffee in her kitchen when she saw the smoke and immediately evacuated the apartment, warning others on her way out that it was in fact a real fire and to get out of the building. All she could do was look back and watch as her apartment burned, flames shooting out of the building. She said when it was over a firefighter walked her to her apartment. There was smoke in the air, the floor was wet and it was completely dark. All she could think to grab was a few clothes from her bedroom. Everything else was ruined.

When we went back on Tuesday, we really didn't know what to expect. It was worse then anyone could ever imagine. Going in the apartment and seeing everything destroyed by the fire, the smoke and soot that had stuck to everything, and the water saturated into all the furniture combined with the ceiling and walls fallen onto everything, it was a scene out of a nightmare.

It was my mom and I with rubber gloves, masks, boxes and garbage bags. She kept telling me to just leave everything because she couldn't gather her thoughts. We made sure to gather her jewelry and a few soot covered items. After she finally went back out to the car, I quickly started bagging her clothes that were in the drawers and boxing her Precious Moments figurines. I bagged her wet shoes and a couple purses. It's troubling to even think of what I managed to gather since a lot of those things have been thrown away in recent days. They were too far gone.

Not only did we have to leave behind all of her ruined furniture, but also memories. Artwork I made when I was a child, that my mother had just reframed for her new apartment. Dishes that belonged to my grandmother that had been passed down generations.

Yes, it was a new apartment. My mother had just moved to Trackside Homes only about a year ago. She had a little bit of savings that she used to buy a new couch that was perfect for her new little living room. It was a new chapter of her life, she also just retired from being a Home Health Aid.

I'm telling as much of the story as I can without dragging on, I hope. My mom is staying with me until a new apartment opens up for her at Trackside. Luckily I had a spare bedroom.

Nobody should ever have to go through such an awful experience. I don't know if one could even comprehend everything that goes along with losing your home.

But it's time to start over. We will take some donations and we're looking for some furniture to get her started. Honestly though, I can't stress enough how important it is for me to see my mother be able to go pick out a new purse, or bedding, or new sneakers. And if you understand what it's like to have a sore body from working hard your whole life, you know she should be able to get a new bed.

Please help my mother, Judi Empey, move forward.

EDIT:

In the original write up I forgot to note that my mom did not have renter's insurance which was necessary for any kind of coverage of what was lost. Trackside Homes does not cover anything lost.