Efforts are underway to help Beardstown residents who were displaced by a massive fire in an apartment complex Sunday night.
A GoFundMe account has been established to help residents of the Meyer Hotel Building that was gutted by fire last night.
Eight different Fire Departments from the surrounding area responded to a three-alarm fire at 601 East 4th Street at approximately 8:38 pm Sunday. Crews worked for over 12 hours to extinguish the blaze, with some hotspots and flareups reported over the mid-day.
According to a report by WAND-TV, the organizer of the GoFundMe page, Michelle Miller says 13 Beardstown residents lost their homes to the fire. She says funds raised by the effort will be used to help with such items as household needs, clothing, and government documents among others.
She is asking the community to assist the residents who lost everything in the fire that completely gutted the three-story building. Three firefighters and one resident were taken to the hospital Sunday night after portions of the structure collapsed, trapping them inside the burning building.
One firefighter, a 23-year-old who was transported to an area hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries has been released. The resident and two other firefighters remain hospitalized with serious but, non-life-threatening injuries according to reports.
No update has been made available on the condition of the victims as of press time. One of the injured firefighters is Beardstown Fire Chief Brian Becker, which was confirmed by Mayor Tim Harris this morning.
Gift cards and monetary donations toward the fund can be dropped off at St. John’s Lutheran Church located at 214 East 6th Street in Beardstown. The incident is under investigation by the Office of the Illinois Fire Marshal.
To view the GoFundMe page, go to: https://gf.me/v/c/y85f/fire-victims-of-beardstown-apartments-51621