Red Cross helping families displaced by Granger apartment fire

Red Cross volunteers are helping the families displaced by the massive fire that happened at the Summer Place Apartments in Granger over the weekend.

Flames tore through a section of the complex Saturday night, leaving at least six apartments severely damaged or destroyed and the rest of the building’s units shut down because of smoke damage.

The Mishawaka Fire Department is still investigating what caused the fire, but the cleanup and restoration process is beginning.

Volunteers with the South Bend Red Cross have been assisting the victims since Saturday night, helping them find places to stay and purchase some clothes and food, according to the local disaster program manager.

Becki Faunce said the volunteers are part of the ‘Disaster Action Team,’ and the Red Cross could always use more help.

“The first step is to go onto redcross.org and sign up to be a volunteer,” Faunce said. “A ‘Disaster Action Team’ member signs up for shifts to be on call when someone has had a fire or some other type of disaster, and they will go out and meet with the affected home and bring some comfort to them when it’s a really dark time in their lives.”

The restoration team on scene Tuesday said the building impacted in Saturday’s fire will remain closed until at least the end of this week as crews continue to assess the damage and investigate the cause.

Nobody was injured in the fire.