NORFOLK, Va. — Neighbors are picking up the pieces following a devastating condo fire in Norfolk.
Anne Heywood's cats were the first thing that came to mind. She has three, and a warning from a neighbor sent her into a mad dash for the felines.
"I had to put my clothes on, I didn't know what was happening. I'm crying because I have to get the cats, this young man was helping me and he said, 'We have to go, we only have the one cat,'" she relays, describing a chaotic scene as a raging fire torched the condos adjacent to her dwelling.
Beth Craig was worried about an animal too. A longtime owner of large dogs, her first small canine, Bernie, is less than a year old. She, her partner, and the 4-legged companion were awoken in a similar fashion to Heywood, a neighbor imploring them to get out.
"We got up and checked the door and sure enough, it was our neighbor. He said, 'You gotta get up, you gotta get up and get out now,'" she remembers.
Bernie made it out, as did one of Heywood's cats, the blaze never making direct contact with their house.
Each woman recalls the night with fear, panic, and chaos, but each ends it with a dose of perspective. Both vividly describe the assistance they got from neighbors, firefighters, and EMTs. Each recalled a couple forced to jump from a window, their condo and everything in it being burned down.
The two women recall them taking solace in the fact that they still had each other.