ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Juan Garcia sat forlornly on a low garden wall along North Seventh Street.
His shattered life lay before him.
A mountain of assorted plastic bags and backpacks were stuffed with all he and his adult son have left in this world.
The late-morning sun that splashed upon Garcia’s bearded face on Wednesday morning was a contradiction; only dark clouds and ominous skies cast a pall over his painful present and uncertain future.
“It’s all gone,” Garcia said, solemnly. “This is all we have left.”
That reality is shared by his son, Josuel, and 34 others who were displaced from four row homes by a three-alarm fire in the 700 block of North Seventh Street on Tuesday afternoon.
"It's all gone. This is all we have left."Juan Garcia, Allentown
“It was 2:41 and I was about to take a nap,” Josuel Garcia said. “Then out of nowhere I saw smoke traveling through the window and I smelled it.
"I wondered what was going on. I thought maybe someone was barbecuing ribs outside or something.
“When I got up, I looked out the window and saw smoke and people with phones and commotion. So I grabbed my cat and went downstairs to my dad, who was taking a shower.
"I said, ‘We got to go! There’s a fire!’
“The fire was traveling all over the place. It was devastating.”
Garcia stood on the sidewalk and looked up at his apartment at 713 N. Seventh St. He shook his head. He glanced at the three other apartments destroyed by the blaze, and exhaled.
“At least me and my dad are safe,” he said.
“And Lana. She’s my cat.”
'These families have nothing left'
The Garcias were preparing Wednesday to pack up their belongings and head off to the Greater Lehigh Valley YMCA, Allentown branch. A Red Cross emergency shelter was immediately established there after the fire.
“Ironically, we just closed our warm station shelter on [April] 15th. So we were able to pull our beds back out and get everything set up to accommodate some folks.YMCA Executive Director Jody Perry
According to YMCA Executive Director Jody Perry, only five of the 36 people affected by the fire spent the night at the shelter.
However, she said she anticipates all 36 will be at the shelter at some point Wednesday.
“Ironically, we just closed our warm station shelter on [April] 15th,” Perry said. “So we were able to pull our beds back out and get everything set up to accommodate some folks.
“We’re providing the actual shelter — the beds, the linens, the ability to take showers. And then we’re working collaboratively with the Red Cross to provide other services.
“When we heard about the fire, we hopped right into action. That’s what the ‘Y’ is all about — serving our community. What better way than to provide shelter after a tragedy.”
The Red Cross will meet with each individual on Saturday to assess their situations, Perry said.
About 10 support groups, including the state Health Department, will meet with them to determine the next steps, what each one’s needs are to get them where they need to be.
According to Peter Brown, executive director of American Red Cross Lehigh Valley-Bucks Chapter, the caring of the displaced individuals is delivered incrementally.
“First, we focus on the fundamentals of food, shelter and clothing,” Brown said outside the YMCA shelter. “Remember, most of these families have nothing left.
“Then we’ll start casework. And we have trained Red Cross volunteers who will assess their needs.
"Family Promise [of Lehigh Valley] is going to help with translation services, so we can make sure they can make us aware of exactly what they need.”
The empty faces
Outside the fire scene on Wednesday morning, Allentown Fire Marshal Michael Achey took a short but much-deserved break after spending time inside the buildings searching for clues to the cause of the fire. It remains a mystery.
“We’re just in the beginning stages of gathering all the pieces to learn what caused the fire,” Achey said. “This could take weeks.
“Fortunately, there were only two minor injuries to residents and one minor injury to a firefighter.”
“I thought I would be next. I began screaming, ‘Fire! Fire!’ I’m thinking, ‘Oh God, no! No!’ He must have heard me; the fire stopped right before my place.”Carlos Rivera of Allentown
As firefighters and investigators combed through the fire-ravaged apartments, Carlos Rivera sat on his front porch at 715 N. Seventh St.
It was inches from where the fire stopped spreading.
“I got home from work around two o’clock,” Rivera said. “Then around three o’clock I opened a window shade and saw fire.
“I thought I would be next. I began screaming, ‘Fire! Fire!’ I’m thinking, ‘Oh God, no! No!’ He must have heard me; the fire stopped right before my place.”
Rivera sat and watched: The next-day clean up; the investigation.
And also the empty faces such as the one belonging to Juan Garcia: A man who can't find a plastic bag large enough and strong enough to carry the emotional load that has befallen him.
