BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Bowling Green businesses have been working to help the residents recover from an apartment fire Wednesday that left 18 units destroyed.
Murrey's Movers, Call of the Canyon, JFS and other businesses have worked since the fire to help provide food, clothing and other necessities.
John Fortner, chief of housing for Harbor, a mental health clinic in Bowling Green, said the apartments were originally built as an affordable place for people to live.
"When something like this happens, the first thing is making sure everyone is physically and mentally OK and has a place to go immediately," Fortner said. "Through the help of a lot of different people around town, we've been able to put them up in hotels for now."
Now, the focus is shifting to finding a long-term solution. Until then, the community has helped tremendously.
"The outpouring of support has been amazing," Fortner said. "It's just been a barrage of phone calls asking 'how can I help?'"
Shawn Murrey, owner of Murrey's Movers, saw the fire from his home and said he immediately wanted to do something to help.
"If you're from Bowling Green, (the) community is everything," he said. "When something happens, the community comes together as you saw, so, it just made sense for me to offer our services," said Shawn Murrey, owner of Murrey's Movers.
Murrey said once people find new homes, his moving company wants to help free of charge.
"We want to step in and be that service that helps to take the stress off your shoulders," he said. "I'm not even worried about pay, we can figure out something later down the road. My thing is, how can we be of service to you?"
Fortner said between first responders and Harbor officials, the response to help was immediate.
"When you talk about the people that showed up that night to help these individuals, you didn't show up because you work for Harbor, you showed up because you work for them," Fortner said.
Murrey shared a similar sentiment. He said helping others is not about business.
"I'm a mover, but, this goes deeper than moves," Murrey said. "We are here to be of service. I'm not just moving your furniture from one location to another, I'm actually here to listen and feel your story."
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. As of Friday, the state fire marshal has not released any additional information.
Harbor is accepting donations at the Connection Center at 309 S. Main St. in Bowling Green.
Donations will be accepted on Thursday and Friday (June 13-14) from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on Saturday (June 15) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The following items are needed, according to Harbor:
- Toiletries
- Shoes
- Reading glasses
- Non-perishable foods
- Protein based snacks
- Water
- Regular and sugar-free Gatorade
- Aspirin/Tylenol/Bandaids/Rolaids/basic first aid/Neosporin
- Walmart gift cards