LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — How much will insurance pay? That's the big question residents have following the massive fire at 310 at NuLu on Monday.
Tuesday evening, Louisville Fire Department still had two fire engines at both ends of the building. The people who called this place home are not allowed inside as their clothes, pictures, cars and everything else that made their lives are trapped inside the building. Most everyone has found a safe place to sleep in a hotel across the street.
For many residents like Michelle Hallenbeck, the process of what happens next begins.
"We are in the process of figuring out all the paperwork that needs to be filled out to cover my hotel until I get a new apartment," Hallenbeck said.
Hallenbeck, who is finishing her PhD in microbiology, called her fourth-floor apartment home for the last three and half years. The fire created a hole in her apartment, on the top floor, she didn't want or need. She ran from the fire wearing a coat over her pajamas and carrying her gecko. The kindness of strangers combined with a short shopping trip makes up a workable wardrobe.
“This is a mixture of what I was given and stuff I bought at Target,” said Hallenbeck.
Until her renter's insurance kicks in, Hallenbeck's employer is helping cover her hotel expenses. A side from clothes, personal electronics and personal items, her biggest expense is the care and feeding of her yellow gecko, which has nothing to do with her renters' insurance.
“Nothing that is not replaceable, I mean all my furniture, all my clothes, the tank I have for my gecko, the tank I have now is much too small for her, so I need to get a bigger one," said Hallenbeck.
Most everything she owns is still trapped in the building. Her renter's insurance will cover losses up to $10,000. The list of things to replace is adding up fast. Her car is in the garage under the apartments, and she hasn't seen the car but suspects it is a complete loss.
The property manager told her a studio apartment will be available in another building in about a month. She expects her renter's insurance will cover the expenses until then. Hallenbeck told WDRB that this is the second apartment fire she has experienced. The first when she was a teenager.
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