BOSTON — It’s been one week since a devastating three-alarm fire in Dorchester displaced dozens of people.
Among those residents is a mother of three young kids, still looking for a new home.
Shawntyanna Davis still can’t believe what happened.
“Still to this day it’s like unreal,” said Davis. “I went out the house and the house across the street was literally orange like a basketball, it was just like bright orange, so I had to step closer to make sure I was seeing what I was seeing because at the time I was like oh my God, our house is on fire.”
That orange glow was from the massive flames that torched two triple-deckers on Centre Street in Dorchester last Sunday.
The Boston Fire Department says more than 30 people were displaced.
“We got displaced in a situation that was not our fault, and today we’re struggling to find a new apartment,” said Davis.
Luckily, she says she’s able to stay with her cousin for today, but it’s been a struggle to find a new apartment for her family.
Davis also just lost her income since she was self-employed as a cosmetologist and pastry chef, with all her business tools lost in the fire.
“I have my pastry degree, I have my culinary degree, so my jobs that I do, all my stuff is gone like all my stuff is damaged because it was out in the open,” said Davis.
Davis says they lost about 85 percent of their belongings in this fire, and she didn’t know she was supposed to have renters’ insurance.
today she’s just trying to hold it all together for her kids.
“All you can really do is like keep on going, I can’t let them see me not being okay because then they’re not okay, so I have no choice but to just keep going,” said Davis.
Davis says she was able to get some money from the Red Cross, which she mostly used to grab her children new clothes.
Still no word on the cause of this fire.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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