Several neighbors are without a place to stay after a fire ripped through three houses in south Columbus Wednesday morning.
One house was destroyed and two others were damaged in the 800-block of South 22nd Street, where firefighters fought flames and tried to put out hot spots for hours.
The house in the middle, which was destroyed, was home to Billie Jo Langford and several of her family members, including her father, who is disabled.
“We starting from scratch and we just gotta stay strong,” Langford said.
She, along with her dad, son, sister and sister’s boyfriend, escaped from the house this morning. Langford’s sister smelled the smoke when she woke up to get ready for work and alerted everyone else to get out.
One of the family’s three pets also survived.