'We Lost Everything:' Couple reels after fire claims belongings

Stef Manchen, St. Joseph News-Press, Mo.
·2 min read

Sep. 30—It was the sound of screaming that woke Kindra Kerns and her husband, Levi Rizer, on the morning of Sept. 21.

"At about 10 o'clock in the morning, we woke up to screaming," Kerns said. "A lot of screaming."

Their apartment building at 210 N. Eighth St. Downtown was burning. Luckily, their children were not in their apartment with them at the time of the fire.

"The fire had spread from one apartment to the entire hallway, probably about 30, 40, 50 feet, from the bottom of the floor to the top of the ceilings," Rizer said. "We had probably 10-foot ceilings in our hallways, and you could just see the wood burning, cooking. You couldn't see anything at all."

With fires impacting St Joseph residents, claiming their belongings and even some lives, there are resources in the area prepared to assist those in need. The main two that Kerns and Rizer reached out to were the Red Cross and InterServ.

The Red Cross of St. Joseph arrived on the scene and tried to help quickly. Staff at the agency immediately provided those who lost their homes with a $515 check.

Joann Woody, executive director of the American Red Cross of Greater Kansas City & Northwest Missouri, said follow-up assistance comes depending on each family or individual's needs.

"I like to think of our service as that bridge in getting them from that tragedy to that next point, and we do that through our partners," Woody said.

Additional financial assistance can be utilized through the Red Cross as well for those displaced by home fires. It's help Rizer and Kerns said is much needed and appreciated.

"It was fire, yes, it is traumatic, yes it can leave marks and scars," Rizer said. "It's just stress and anxiety about what the next day is going to bring. What do we do next? Where do we go from here?"

The pair is now looking for a new home and facing a continued rise in inflation across town. Both Rizer and Kerns are working full-time jobs and looking to pay their way to find a new safe roof to live under.

"It's a constant 'Are we going to eat today, or are we going to put it towards this?'" Kerns said. "Now it feels like a never-ending 'I don't have.' I don't even know how to explain it."