Residents in a Mentor apartment building are being assisted by the Red Cross after a fire early Saturday morning caused damage, leaving them without heat.
Just before 2:50 a.m., Mentor Fire responded to Park House Apartments for a fire that broke out in the first-floor laundry room.
Residents were evacuated safely, and no injuries were reported.
However, the building's boiler room sustained extensive damage, leaving the 72 apartment units without heat for the foreseeable future amid below-freezing temperatures, Mentor Fire said.
The Red Cross said it is working with the apartment management and community partners to assess the needs of those impacted.
The Mentor Senior Center has been activated as a shelter until the building's residents can make other housing arrangements, Mentor Fire said.
Tenants told News 5 they do not know when they will be able to return to their homes.
"I am worried, not just for me but for my neighbors. Some of them don't have family here or friends close by, and don't have places to go. That makes me really sad because they don't know what they are going to do," said tenant Ashley Nagy.
Nagy says they were told by management that starting Monday, they will put tenants who have renters' insurance into hotels.
"It's just stressful because now I have to worry about getting to work on Monday and getting my son to school. He's not gonna be able to ride the bus. So, now I have to take time off work to get him to school and I have to worry about how I'm gonna feed my family," said Nagy.
The cause of the fire and the estimated cost of damages are unknown at this time.
