PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The St Petersburg Fire Department put out four fires in the last three days. One was a four-unit apartment complex where a single mother lost everything Tuesday.
“I got a phone call from my neighbor; she was telling me that my house was on fire,” Cris Beyer told ABC Action News. “You don't think this is gonna happen to you, ever.”
Beyer lived in one of the four units with her 8-year-old daughter.
“The other units to my left and right were salvaged. It was my home that ended up taking the flames,” she explained. The other tenants have smoke and water damage, but Beyer lost practically everything in the fire.
Firefighters told her the fire started in her garage, but the cause is still under investigation.
“There was a fireman that asked, ‘Was there anything, in particular, you would want me to try and get?’” Beyer recalled. “I’m like, ‘She needs her little teddy bear, her favorite bear.’ He went up with another fire woman, they got my daughter's teddy bear.’”
Little did she know that would be the start of St Pete’s love and support.
“I was standing here, and this woman came up and introduced herself, and she was like, ‘I'm going to help you,’” Beyer said.
That was Sara Schatzel, whose brother lives in the unit next to Beyer.
“I was like, ‘Let me just get your phone number and let me just like get right on this for you,’” Satchzel told ABC Action News.
Satchzel posted on the “I Love St Pete” Facebook page, and donations started showing up on her doorstep.
“She made it over here about 9 p.m. last night with her daughter, and it was very emotional,” Satchzel said about Beyer.
The community stocked her with everything her daughter could need to start school the next day.
“Her daughter… walked into my house, and she was like, ‘Oh my gosh! I just love this!’” Satchzel exclaimed.
“It's hard because I'm, you know, I work very hard. I'm a single mom and a business owner; I’m a designer,” Beyer said.
Beyer has an AirBnB for the next month, but after that, she’ll have to start over from scratch.
“This has been traumatic… but… Gods really good, and there are so many angels in the city,” Beyer said.
Satchzel also started a GoFundMe for Beyer as well as other tenants.
