Fire Leaves People Homeless on Thanksgiving - ABC5 News Des Moines, IA

Fire Leaves People Homeless on Thanksgiving

by Phil Prazan

pprazan@myabc5.com

@PhilPrazan

It was a traumatic Thanksgiving for the small town of Montezuma. A fire there has left several people without a home.

Volunteer firefighter Bret Warden was cooking a turkey in his driveway when he turned around to see a neighborhood disaster. The apartment complex next door burst into flames.

Bret sprung into action and contacted other volunteers.

"I was kind of shocked.  I'm just glad I was right here and I saw it," says Bret Warden.

At the same time, Diana Cook and her daughter Destiny were inside with the flames.
 
"Smoke was rolling from the stove.  The stove wasn't even on though or nothing.  It was just coming up through the vents and everywhere else," says Cook.

Around thirty firefighters from Montezuma and nearby small towns battled and eventually prevented the fire from spreading to other buildings.

But the fire that started in the basement destroyed the entire building.

Friday the Cooks strolled through the rubble, trying to salvage anything they could. The Red Cross has put them up in a local motel so they can get back on their feet.

"The community has been awesome.  They've been helping us out.  There's a lot of good people here," says Cook, "We might have lost all of our stuff but at least nobody got hurt or anything."