By the time firefighters extinguished the blaze, the roof over the top-story apartment had been burned away and at least four families were left without a home. Later Tuesday night, a Red Cross official said that agency was helping 11 families at the complex to meet various needs, including food, clothing or shelter.

About 34 firefighters arrived at the 2917 Salvone Court complex around 12:49 p.m. to find flames shooting through the roof of Building 4. Although the temperature was stifling, the firefighters had the blaze under control in about 30 minutes.

Three apartments in the three-story, 12-unit building sustained heavy damage, and the roof of a fourth apartment was damaged by firefighters cutting through to help battle the blaze, Boyd said.

Maria C. Medina and her five children were inside the ground-floor apartment when the fire started. Medina, whose husband was working at his construction job at the time, managed to get her children out safely, but the family is uninsured, she said in Spanish. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but Boyd confirmed that it started in Medina's apartment. "It appeared to have started there," he said. "It appeared to have started in a room where an air conditioner was sitting." The fire burned into the walls of Medina's apartment and soon found its way into the building's attic, Boyd said. "It went up the walls and got into the attic and burned laterally," Boyd said. "Those buildings are built paper thin, and they burn just like paper. But everybody got out and nobody got hurt."

Through tears, Medina said that she, her husband and five children, ages 6 months, 4, 6, 7 and 11, had nowhere to stay. So while the firefighters continued to battle the blaze, Barry Warren, the manager of the complex, worked diligently to find the family another apartment. "We're trying to get them another apartment. We have some units that are ready and others that aren't quite ready," he said. "We're going to try to relocate everybody." Warren said he had helped the family in the past with clothing and other items because of the number of children they have. It was unfortunate they were uninsured, he said. "We recommend everybody [buy renter's insurance] when they sign the lease," he said. "It's actually quite reasonable, but when you don't have a lot of money, it makes it difficult." A Red Cross crew also responded to the complex, staying late into the night to help at least 11 families that were affected by the fire. "We're providing a mix of food, clothing and shelter assistance, based on the individual needs," said Chris Shrewsbury, Red Cross associate director of emergency services. "We're helping all of them to some degree or another."

The Central North Carolina Chapter of the American Red Cross recently announced that it would have to cut its operating hours, as well as staff and benefits, because of financial problems caused by two years of declining donations. The agency spent about $45,000 last fiscal year providing clothes, hotel stays and other necessities for victims of house fires. Shrewsbury said Tuesday night that the chapter would continue to provide emergency assistance to area residents despite the budget problems. "It's definitely impacting us," he said. "But we're going on faith that the money will be there when the bills come in."