It's a heartbreaking way to begin the New Year, losing everything you own in an apartment fire and that's what happened to several families here on Detroit's east side.
Smoke alarms were still going off as Tom Gaines walked through his apartment for the first time since the fire sent him running.
"I've got to rent a truck, transport it where, I don't know, but I've got to pay for storage, don't I," said resident Tom Gaines.
He was able to save more than Lejuan Scott who lives on the second story unit with his wife and two daughters.
"This is where I live, this is where my kids sleep at. I don't have anything, it's gone, done," said Lejaun Scott.
It was just before 10 p.m. Sunday when firefighters were called to the Belmont Manor Apartments, they say the fire had spread to all three stories and filled the stairwells.
Firefighters believe the fire started in a first floor back unit, neighbors say it started in the kitchen. What wasn't burned to ash by fire was destroyed by smoke, water and now ice.
The Red Cross was there to help families get out of the cold, but it will be a long road to rebuild their lives.
"This is how I spent my New Year, just like this. Me and my kids, like this, nowhere to live nowhere to sleep," said Scott.
