MILWAUKEE -- After Friday's apartment fire on Milwaukee's East Side at St. Catherine Residence High Rise destroyed two units; Kristine Teranzo, her 7-month-old daughter Donatella Teranzo and service dog Prince are now living in a motel.
While she says she's keeping her spirits up for her baby girl, it does get hard seeing as how they lost everything but the clothes on their back. Teranzo says she had to let go all of Donatella's clothes, blankets and toys.
"We had to get rid of all her blankets that way," she said. "The hospital said the smoke was on the blankets and her outfits."
Teranzo is originally from South Carolina. She says a high school friend heard about the fire and set up a GoFundMe page to help her out since Teranzo is alone in Milwaukee.
"I just couldn't stop thanking her," says Teranzo.
Donations from the Red Cross and a few good Samaritans at the motel are making things a little easier. Teranzo has a box of clothes, the essential baby items, and a dog bed. She says her family might be able to move into a new apartment this week, but she still needs furniture to make a house a home.
Milwaukee Fire Department Second Chief Battalion Andrew Timm of Engine 13 says more than 100 people were in the building on Friday night. Of those, nearly 10 people had to be rescued.
"They had fire showing on the third floor of an eight-story building. Multiple people hanging out of windows looking to be rescued," says Timm.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
